I consider it an absolutely marvelous problem that there are so many C++ conferences
I can't go to them all! There are a number of smaller conferences that draw primarily
from one country or region, and more meetups than I can keep track of. I'm open to
talking at a meetup if I happen to be traveling to a city for business anyway, but
I don't think I can get up above 5 or 6 conferences a year, especially if some of
them involve keynotes, plenary sessions, or workshop days. It's a lot of work!

Hope I get to see plenty of people in these various places,

Kate

Latest Speaking Schedulehttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=629fc891-e1ae-4f51-ad56-0a6d491ecb04http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/LatestSpeakingSchedule.aspx
Sat, 09 Jun 2018 20:24:48 GMT<p>
Here's what's coming up over the next few quarters:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
August 27-30: <a href="https://ndctechtown.com/speaker/kate-gregory/">NDC Techtown
(two talks)<br>
</a>
</li>
<li>
Sept 23-29: <a href="https://cppcon.org/">CppCon </a>(<a href="https://cppcon.org/engage-entertain-educate/">preconference
day</a>; main conference talks not yet announced)</li>
<li>
Oct 18th-19th: <a href="https://pacificplusplus.com/">Pacific++</a> (two talks)</li>
<ul>
<li>
Submissions are still open so if you want to join me in Sydney as a presenter, get
on that!</li>
</ul>
<li>
Nov 15th-17th: <a href="http://meetingcpp.com/2018/">Meeting C++</a> - I will <b>not </b>be
speaking here (I just can't fit it in), but I want you to know it's happening</li>
<li>
Feb 4th-6th 2019: <a href="https://cpponsea.uk/news/dates-and-keynote-speakers-announced.html">C++
on Sea</a> (keynote at this brand new conference)</li>
<li>
April 2019 - ACCU (nothing announced yet, but I plan to be there)</li>
</ul>
<p>
I consider it an absolutely marvelous problem that there are so many C++ conferences
I can't go to them all! There are a number of smaller conferences that draw primarily
from one country or region, and more meetups than I can keep track of. I'm open to
talking at a meetup if I happen to be traveling to a city for business anyway, but
I don't think I can get up above 5 or 6 conferences a year, especially if some of
them involve keynotes, plenary sessions, or workshop days. It's a lot of work!
</p>
<p>
Hope I get to see plenty of people in these various places,
</p>
<p>
Kate<br>
</p>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=629fc891-e1ae-4f51-ad56-0a6d491ecb04" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=629fc891-e1ae-4f51-ad56-0a6d491ecb04C++Consulting LifeSeen and RecommendedSpeakinghttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=f28a820a-8245-4928-89da-25db827708bbhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=f28a820a-8245-4928-89da-25db827708bbKate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=f28a820a-8245-4928-89da-25db827708bbhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=f28a820a-8245-4928-89da-25db827708bb3

I had a very busy March and April, with travel and with preparing for those trips.
So I forgot to mention that my latest Pluralsight course is now live! It's called C++
Fundamentals Including C++ 17 and it's an update of my C++ Fundamentals course.
Here's what I changed:

I made most of the demos a lot smaller, by breaking them into pieces or by putting
some of the material on slides instead

I made the slides less text-heavy, again mostly by splitting them up

I added diagrams to explain things that needed them

I added some C++ 14 and 17 content

I switched to a consistent "const after" style (aka east const)

I double checked every line of code for good style and consistency

I'm really pleased with the result. If you've already taken C++ Fundamentals you probably
don't need to take it again, but I hope you'll recommend to others that they take
the new one. I think it makes learning C++ less daunting than some other approaches
do.

Kate

ps: don't have a Pluralsight subscription? There's a link over there ------->
for a free trial.

Updated C++ Fundamentals course at Pluralsighthttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=f28a820a-8245-4928-89da-25db827708bbhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/UpdatedCFundamentalsCourseAtPluralsight.aspx
Tue, 08 May 2018 21:27:06 GMT<p>
I had a very busy March and April, with travel and with preparing for those trips.
So I forgot to mention that my latest Pluralsight course is now live! It's called <a href="https://www.pluralsight.com/courses/cplusplus-fundamentals-c17">C++
Fundamentals Including C++ 17</a> and it's an update of my C++ Fundamentals course.
Here's what I changed:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
I made most of the demos a lot smaller, by breaking them into pieces or by putting
some of the material on slides instead</li>
<li>
I made the slides less text-heavy, again mostly by splitting them up</li>
<li>
I added diagrams to explain things that needed them</li>
<li>
I added some C++ 14 and 17 content</li>
<li>
I switched to a consistent "const after" style (aka east const)</li>
<li>
I double checked every line of code for good style and consistency</li>
</ul>
<p>
I'm really pleased with the result. If you've already taken C++ Fundamentals you probably
don't need to take it again, but I hope you'll recommend to others that they take
the new one. I think it makes learning C++ less daunting than some other approaches
do.
</p>
<p>
Kate
</p>
<p>
ps: don't have a Pluralsight subscription? There's a link over there -------&gt;&nbsp;
for a free trial.<br>
</p>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=f28a820a-8245-4928-89da-25db827708bb" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=f28a820a-8245-4928-89da-25db827708bbC++C++ Guidelineshttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=b03d858d-231f-4a87-8cf8-1395d84c5b6ehttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=b03d858d-231f-4a87-8cf8-1395d84c5b6eKate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=b03d858d-231f-4a87-8cf8-1395d84c5b6ehttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=b03d858d-231f-4a87-8cf8-1395d84c5b6e

The schedule for ACCU has
now been released, and the Feb 20th early bird registration deadline
is approaching, so I thought it was a good idea to mention my session there.

Many people say that simple code is better code, but fewer put it into practice. In
this talk I’ll spend a little time on why simpler is better, and why we resist simplicity.
Then I’ll provide some specific approaches that are likely to make your code simpler,
and discuss what you need to know and do in order to consistently write simpler code
and reap the benefits of that simplicity. Code samples will be in C++ and some material
will be C++-specific.

I'll be joined by dozens of amazing speakers and the topics will be wide-ranging.
It's not all C++, and I'm looking forward to a little mind-expanding from some session
I didn't expect to do so. The pub quiz and lightning talks will also be good fun.
April 11th to 14th in Bristol - will I see you there?

Kate

Speaking at ACCU in Aprilhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=b03d858d-231f-4a87-8cf8-1395d84c5b6ehttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SpeakingAtACCUInApril.aspx
Wed, 14 Feb 2018 00:07:13 GMT<p>
The <a href="https://conference.accu.org/2018/schedule.html">schedule for ACCU</a> has
now been released, and the Feb 20th early bird <a href="http://www.cvent.com/d/6tqq15">registration </a>deadline
is approaching, so I thought it was a good idea to mention my session there.
</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/accu2018_369x124.png" width="247" height="83" border="0">
</p>
<p>
<a href="https://conference.accu.org/2018/sessions.html#XSimplicitynotjustforbeginners">Simplicity:
not just for beginners</a>
</p>
<blockquote>
<p>
Many people say that simple code is better code, but fewer put it into practice. In
this talk I’ll spend a little time on why simpler is better, and why we resist simplicity.
Then I’ll provide some specific approaches that are likely to make your code simpler,
and discuss what you need to know and do in order to consistently write simpler code
and reap the benefits of that simplicity. Code samples will be in C++ and some material
will be C++-specific.
</p>
</blockquote>
<p>
I'll be joined by dozens of amazing speakers and the topics will be wide-ranging.
It's not all C++, and I'm looking forward to a little mind-expanding from some session
I didn't expect to do so. The pub quiz and lightning talks will also be good fun.
April 11th to 14th in Bristol - will I see you there?
</p>
<p>
Kate<br>
</p>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=b03d858d-231f-4a87-8cf8-1395d84c5b6e" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=b03d858d-231f-4a87-8cf8-1395d84c5b6eC++C++ GuidelinesSpeakingTravelhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=6f864c8f-ed04-441b-8b57-0a55bf82fc72http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=6f864c8f-ed04-441b-8b57-0a55bf82fc72Kate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=6f864c8f-ed04-441b-8b57-0a55bf82fc72http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=6f864c8f-ed04-441b-8b57-0a55bf82fc722
In 2016 I didn't speak at conferences because
I was ill. I really enjoyed getting "back in harness" at CppCon this year (my
Guidelines talk has been uploaded already, if you missed it) and I am happily
looking forward to my next two conferences.

In Berlin I will deliver one of the keynotes
for Meeting C++. It will be one of those opinionated talks with stories in it,
plus code of course. I love giving those kinds of talks and they're typically well-received,
so I am expecting to have a great time. This will be my first time at Meeting C++
and I know it will be a great conference.

The next week, I will be at the 2017 C++ and System
Software Summit in Beijing. 8 tracks and over 500 attendees; this is a big conference.
I've never been to Asia before, so I am very excited to meet a lot of new people (and
some I've known for a while, the speaker circuit is like that) as well as seeing new
places and experiencing a new conference.

I'm still thinking about what I will submit
to ACCU for the spring. I prefer to do a new talk for each conference or at least
to update existing talks dramatically. I will need to make up my mind before I leave
for China!

Kate

Speaking in November: Berlin and Beijinghttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=6f864c8f-ed04-441b-8b57-0a55bf82fc72http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SpeakingInNovemberBerlinAndBeijing.aspx
Thu, 19 Oct 2017 12:08:43 GMTIn 2016 I didn't speak at conferences because I was ill. I really enjoyed getting "back in harness" at CppCon this year (<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkDEzfpdcSg">my
Guidelines talk</a> has been uploaded already, if you missed it) and I am happily
looking forward to my next two conferences.<br>
<br>
In Berlin I will deliver one of the <a href="http://meetingcpp.com/meetingcpp/news/items/Keynotes-at-Meeting-Cpp-2017.html">keynotes
for Meeting C++</a>. It will be one of those opinionated talks with stories in it,
plus code of course. I love giving those kinds of talks and they're typically well-received,
so I am expecting to have a great time. This will be my first time at Meeting C++
and I know it will be a great conference.<br>
<br>
The next week, I will be at the <a href="http://cpp-summit.org/en">2017 C++ and System
Software Summit</a> in Beijing. 8 tracks and over 500 attendees; this is a big conference.
I've never been to Asia before, so I am very excited to meet a lot of new people (and
some I've known for a while, the speaker circuit is like that) as well as seeing new
places and experiencing a new conference.
<br>
<br>
I'm still thinking about what I will <a href="https://cfp.conference.accu.org/">submit
to ACCU</a> for the spring. I prefer to do a new talk for each conference or at least
to update existing talks dramatically. I will need to make up my mind before I leave
for China!<br>
<br>
Kate<br>
<p>
</p>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=6f864c8f-ed04-441b-8b57-0a55bf82fc72" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=6f864c8f-ed04-441b-8b57-0a55bf82fc72C++C++ GuidelinesConsulting LifeSpeakingTravelhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=207e6846-62f3-496e-96e8-55d4897759f9http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=207e6846-62f3-496e-96e8-55d4897759f9Kate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=207e6846-62f3-496e-96e8-55d4897759f9http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=207e6846-62f3-496e-96e8-55d4897759f9

This week, I’ve been in Salt Lake City for the Pluralsight Author Summit and the first-ever
PluralsightLIVE event. What a great time! This is my first time on a plane in over
two years, and it is terrific to be out traveling again.

Pluralsight takes great care of its authors and that started with a lovely box of
goodies in my room the first night.

Tuesday we all got together to hear about the past growth and future vision for Pluralsight,
and to get a sneak peek at some things that would be announced later in the week.
And of course, for Aaron to get a selfie with the authors!

In the afternoon, we had open sessions where we learned from some Pluralsight staff
we don’t normally get to meet, and from each other. What makes you a great author
in the eyes of your editor and the other people who help to get your material published
and live? How can you get your courses recorded faster? Geeky talk about microphones
and other tools of our trade, of promo videos on YouTube, and so many other things
we all really wanted to talk about.

PluralsightLIVE itself started Tuesday night with a reception in the partner pavilion
and an evening event I wasn’t able to stay up for.

That's my shirt being printed on the spot for me!

That's the very popular candy dispenser array.

I’ve been to a LOT of conferences and most of them look pretty generic. Here there
was just so much effort showing: the fun activities like huge Jenga, Connect 4, and
similar games, the couches everywhere (with power and USB ports so you could charge
whatever you needed to charge), the large easy-to-spot-and-read signage, and more.
It was clear the organizers were really caring about the wellbeing and happiness of
all the attendees.

There were a lot of keynotes. Wednesday and Thursday both had keynotes the whole morning,
and Thursday also had an afternoon keynote. These were entertaining, inspirational,
educational, and really worth my time. I was especially looking forward to Joel Spolsky
on Wednesday morning and he didn’t disappoint. He was funny and open. He also announced
that Stack Exchange users will all get 60 free days of Pluralsight training. I hope
some of them use it to take my
Stack Exchange course! Then he liked my tweet afterwards so that was fun.

(If you want to take one
of my courses, and don't have a subscription, there's a grey rectangle over the
right that says Author: click it and you can get a ten-day free trial.)

When I wasn’t in keynotes, I was meeting other attendees and Pluralsight authors.
Many of the authors are friends I haven’t seen in far too long, so it was tough to
tear myself away, but I forced myself, because meeting learners is what this week
was about for me. It was especially helpful to talk to managers and team leaders who
want to know how their people are using their subscriptions. The Pluralsight IQ announcement
[link] was very well received both by learners who wanted to show off their scores,
and managers who wanted to track a team’s progress.

I took the C++ assessment, but I zipped through it a little too quickly and some questions
needed more thought than I gave them. Still, I did ok:

After I tweeted my results, a whole pile of my C++ tribe also got
their scores, and I even outscored a few! (Plus, I think they found a few bugs
in the assessment – I’m going to get them fixed.)

The afternoon keynotes on Thursday wrapped up with Michelle Obama talking about diversity,
education, children, and much more. I hadn’t heard her speak before other than sound
bites on the news, and I was really impressed. She was warm and funny and willing
to show irritation or frustration as well as the polished pleasantness I was expecting.

Next year’s dates have already been announced: the week of August 26th, 2018. I’m
planning to be there. If you take Pluralsight courses (and come on, you should be
taking Pluralsight courses) then consider it too. There was a lot of good content
in a wonderful atmosphere, a chance to meet all kinds of interesting people, and a
few days to put learning and growing front and centre – time well spent for me.

Kate

PluralsightLIVE and Author Summithttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=207e6846-62f3-496e-96e8-55d4897759f9http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PluralsightLIVEAndAuthorSummit.aspx
Sat, 23 Sep 2017 13:50:51 GMT<p>
This week, I’ve been in Salt Lake City for the Pluralsight Author Summit and the first-ever
PluralsightLIVE event. What a great time! This is my first time on a plane in over
two years, and it is terrific to be out traveling again.
</p>
<p>
Pluralsight takes great care of its authors and that started with a lovely box of
goodies in my room the first night.
</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/20170919_074102 small.jpg" border="0">
</p>
<p>
Tuesday we all got together to hear about the past growth and future vision for Pluralsight,
and to get a sneak peek at some things that would be announced later in the week.
And of course, for Aaron to get a selfie with the authors!
</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/aaron selfie pslive.jpg" width="600" border="0">
</p>
<p>
In the afternoon, we had open sessions where we learned from some Pluralsight staff
we don’t normally get to meet, and from each other. What makes you a great author
in the eyes of your editor and the other people who help to get your material published
and live? How can you get your courses recorded faster? Geeky talk about microphones
and other tools of our trade, of promo videos on YouTube, and so many other things
we all really wanted to talk about.
</p>
<p>
PluralsightLIVE itself started Tuesday night with a reception in the partner pavilion
and an evening event I wasn’t able to stay up for.
</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/20170920_090940 small.jpg" border="0"> <img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/20170920_102333 small.jpg" border="0"> <img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/20170920_180239 small.jpg" border="0">
</p>
<p>
That's my shirt being printed on the spot for me!
</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/20170920_195827 small.jpg" border="0">
</p>
<p>
That's the very popular candy dispenser array.
</p>
<p>
I’ve been to a LOT of conferences and most of them look pretty generic. Here there
was just so much effort showing: the fun activities like huge Jenga, Connect 4, and
similar games, the couches everywhere (with power and USB ports so you could charge
whatever you needed to charge), the large easy-to-spot-and-read signage, and more.
It was clear the organizers were really caring about the wellbeing and happiness of
all the attendees.
</p>
<p>
There were a lot of keynotes. Wednesday and Thursday both had keynotes the whole morning,
and Thursday also had an afternoon keynote. These were entertaining, inspirational,
educational, and really worth my time. I was especially looking forward to Joel Spolsky
on Wednesday morning and he didn’t disappoint. He was funny and open. He also announced
that Stack Exchange users will all get 60 free days of Pluralsight training. I hope
some of them use it to take <a href="https://app.pluralsight.com/library/courses/using-stackoverflow-stackexchange-sites">my
Stack Exchange course</a>! Then he liked my tweet afterwards so that was fun.
</p>
<blockquote>
<p>
(If you want to take <a href="https://app.pluralsight.com/profile/author/kate-gregory">one
of my courses</a>, and don't have a subscription, there's a grey rectangle over the
right that says Author: click it and you can get a ten-day free trial.)<br>
</p>
</blockquote>
<p>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/20170920_111751 cropped small.jpg" border="0"> <img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/20170920_123339 cropped small.jpg" border="0"><img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/20170921_123934 cropped small.jpg" border="0"> <img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/20170921_111732 cropped small.jpg" border="0">
</p>
<p>
When I wasn’t in keynotes, I was meeting other attendees and Pluralsight authors.
Many of the authors are friends I haven’t seen in far too long, so it was tough to
tear myself away, but I forced myself, because meeting learners is what this week
was about for me. It was especially helpful to talk to managers and team leaders who
want to know how their people are using their subscriptions. The Pluralsight IQ announcement
[link] was very well received both by learners who wanted to show off their scores,
and managers who wanted to track a team’s progress.
</p>
<p>
I took the C++ assessment, but I zipped through it a little too quickly and some questions
needed more thought than I gave them. Still, I did ok:
</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/score.jpg" width="400" border="0">
</p>
<p>
After I tweeted my results, a whole pile of my C++ tribe also <a href="https://www.pluralsight.com/product/pluralsight-iq">got
their scores</a>, and I even outscored a few! (Plus, I think they found a few bugs
in the assessment – I’m going to get them fixed.)
</p>
<p>
The afternoon keynotes on Thursday wrapped up with Michelle Obama talking about diversity,
education, children, and much more. I hadn’t heard her speak before other than sound
bites on the news, and I was really impressed. She was warm and funny and willing
to show irritation or frustration as well as the polished pleasantness I was expecting.
</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/20170921_180704 cropped small.jpg" border="0">
</p>
<p>
Next year’s dates have already been announced: the week of August 26th, 2018. I’m
planning to be there. If you take Pluralsight courses (and come on, you should be
taking Pluralsight courses) then consider it too. There was a lot of good content
in a wonderful atmosphere, a chance to meet all kinds of interesting people, and a
few days to put learning and growing front and centre – time well spent for me.
</p>
<p>
Kate
</p>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=207e6846-62f3-496e-96e8-55d4897759f9" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=207e6846-62f3-496e-96e8-55d4897759f9C++Consulting Lifehttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=0d5f4bbb-1c90-4539-b3e4-1cdeac9a0968http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=0d5f4bbb-1c90-4539-b3e4-1cdeac9a0968Kate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=0d5f4bbb-1c90-4539-b3e4-1cdeac9a0968http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=0d5f4bbb-1c90-4539-b3e4-1cdeac9a0968

This year's innovation at CppCon is a Meet
the Speakers Dinner Thursday night. It's pretty expensive ($100) because the venue
is charging a lot for it, but here's your chance to relax over dinner with many of
the speakers from CppCon. If you've registered for the conference but haven't bought
a dinner ticket yet, please do! We want to meet attendees and this is a great way
to do it. I've been an attendee at speaker dinners at other conferences and I have
to say it's always been a highlight of the conference for me. Career advice from Bjarne
himself over (excellent) dessert? Yes please!

I can't guarantee you Bjarne (or even me) but you will be asked if there's someone
you want to sit with, and the organizers will do their best to accommodate you.

Let's Have Dinner at CppConhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=0d5f4bbb-1c90-4539-b3e4-1cdeac9a0968http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/LetsHaveDinnerAtCppCon.aspx
Mon, 11 Sep 2017 20:01:06 GMT<p>
This year's innovation at <a href="https://cppcon.org/">CppCon </a>is a <a href="https://cppcon2017.sched.com/event/BhdF">Meet
the Speakers Dinner</a> Thursday night. It's pretty expensive ($100) because the venue
is charging a lot for it, but here's your chance to relax over dinner with many of
the speakers from CppCon. If you've registered for the conference but haven't bought
a dinner ticket yet, please do! We want to meet attendees and this is a great way
to do it. I've been an attendee at speaker dinners at other conferences and I have
to say it's always been a highlight of the conference for me. Career advice from Bjarne
himself over (excellent) dessert? Yes please!<br>
</p>
<p>
I can't guarantee you Bjarne (or even me) but you will be asked if there's someone
you want to sit with, and the organizers will do their best to accommodate you.
<br>
</p>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=0d5f4bbb-1c90-4539-b3e4-1cdeac9a0968" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=0d5f4bbb-1c90-4539-b3e4-1cdeac9a0968C++Consulting LifeSpeakinghttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=a920f1a8-3291-49be-a64f-7cc483e7b95ahttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=a920f1a8-3291-49be-a64f-7cc483e7b95aKate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=a920f1a8-3291-49be-a64f-7cc483e7b95ahttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=a920f1a8-3291-49be-a64f-7cc483e7b95a4

I am happy to announce that my submission to CppCon has
been accepted!

10 Core Guidelines You Need to Start Using Now

The C++ Core Guidelines were announced at CppCon 2015, yet some developers have still
never heard of them. It's time to see what they have to offer for you, no matter how
much C++ experience you have. You don't need to read and learn the whole thing: in
this talk I am pulling out some highlights of the Guidelines to show you why you should
be using these selected guidelines. For each one I'll show some examples, and discuss
the benefit of adopting them for new code or going back into old code to make a change.

Beginners who find the sheer size of the language and library daunting should be able
to rely on the Guidelines to help make sane choices when there are many ways to do
things. Experienced C++ developers may need to leave some of their habits behind.
Developers along this spectrum could benefit from seeing what the Guidelines have
to offer, yet the guidelines themselves are just too big to absorb all at once. My
examples will be chosen to be beginner-friendly and the focus will be on what's in
it for you: faster code, less bugs, and other tangible benefits.

I am so looking forward to seeing "my tribe" again in Bellevue this year. I'm going
on the field trip too! If you haven't registered yet,
get on that!

Kate

My CppCon talkhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=a920f1a8-3291-49be-a64f-7cc483e7b95ahttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/MyCppConTalk.aspx
Fri, 21 Jul 2017 17:03:59 GMT<p>
I am happy to announce that my submission to <a href="https://cppcon.org/">CppCon </a>has
been accepted!
</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/weblogo.jpg" width="600" border="0">
</p>
<blockquote>
<p>
<b>10 Core Guidelines You Need to Start Using Now</b>
</p>
<p>
The C++ Core Guidelines were announced at CppCon 2015, yet some developers have still
never heard of them. It's time to see what they have to offer for you, no matter how
much C++ experience you have. You don't need to read and learn the whole thing: in
this talk I am pulling out some highlights of the Guidelines to show you why you should
be using these selected guidelines. For each one I'll show some examples, and discuss
the benefit of adopting them for new code or going back into old code to make a change.
</p>
<p>
Beginners who find the sheer size of the language and library daunting should be able
to rely on the Guidelines to help make sane choices when there are many ways to do
things. Experienced C++ developers may need to leave some of their habits behind.
Developers along this spectrum could benefit from seeing what the Guidelines have
to offer, yet the guidelines themselves are just too big to absorb all at once. My
examples will be chosen to be beginner-friendly and the focus will be on what's in
it for you: faster code, less bugs, and other tangible benefits.
</p>
</blockquote>
<p>
I am so looking forward to seeing "my tribe" again in Bellevue this year. I'm going
on the <a href="https://cppcon.org/2017fieldtrip/">field trip</a> too! If you haven't <a href="https://cppcon.org/registration/">registered </a>yet,
get on that!
</p>
<p>
Kate
</p>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=a920f1a8-3291-49be-a64f-7cc483e7b95a" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=a920f1a8-3291-49be-a64f-7cc483e7b95aC++C++ GuidelinesSpeakingTravelhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=0cb9992e-9e52-4438-8a19-911fe3f297abhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=0cb9992e-9e52-4438-8a19-911fe3f297abKate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=0cb9992e-9e52-4438-8a19-911fe3f297abhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=0cb9992e-9e52-4438-8a19-911fe3f297ab

I had to curtail my activities pretty dramatically in the second half of 2016, even
in areas like mailing list participation or answering questions on StackOverflow.
I was beginning to wonder if I would qualify for Visual C++ MVP again without conference
talks or some of my other usual activities. No-one should ever assume they will be
awarded; the program is always changing and our lives are always changing, so anyone
can find themselves out of sync with the requirements of a program. However, I'm happy
to learn that I
have been renewed for 2017 and will continue to be part of this active community.

Looking forward to a terrific 2017,

Kate

Still an MVP!http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=0cb9992e-9e52-4438-8a19-911fe3f297abhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/StillAnMVP.aspx
Wed, 04 Jan 2017 17:08:17 GMT<p>
I had to curtail my activities pretty dramatically in the second half of 2016, even
in areas like mailing list participation or answering questions on StackOverflow.
I was beginning to wonder if I would qualify for Visual C++ MVP again without conference
talks or some of my other usual activities. No-one should ever assume they will be
awarded; the program is always changing and our lives are always changing, so anyone
can find themselves out of sync with the requirements of a program. However, I'm happy
to learn that <a href="https://mvp.microsoft.com/en-us/PublicProfile/9511?fullName=Kate%20%20Gregory">I
have been renewed for 2017</a> and will continue to be part of this active community.
<br>
</p>
<p>
Looking forward to a terrific 2017,
</p>
<p>
Kate<br>
</p>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=0cb9992e-9e52-4438-8a19-911fe3f297ab" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=0cb9992e-9e52-4438-8a19-911fe3f297abC++Consulting LifeMVPhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=80b293ba-6e73-4a96-a1c1-6a789cce54ebhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=80b293ba-6e73-4a96-a1c1-6a789cce54ebKate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=80b293ba-6e73-4a96-a1c1-6a789cce54ebhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=80b293ba-6e73-4a96-a1c1-6a789cce54eb
It has been a very busy summer for
me. Mostly it's been great, with family visits from all over the world and the wedding
of my oldest child. But there have been some challenges, too. Without going into details,
I've had to cancel plans to speak at (and even attend) CppCon.
This is really sad - CppCon was the largest C++ conference ever when it started in
2014, and has grown remarkably ever since. It's a place where I learn new things,
make new friends and contacts, and meet old friends for a wonderful week of laughter,
in-jokes, and brain-stretching.

I am hoping that within a few months, I'll be "back in the saddle" again and planning
a 2017 full of speaking and learning. In the meantime, I'll be following #CppCon on
twitter, and watching the YouTube channel for
new videos - the plenaries and keynotes get up really fast. If you're not there in
person, be there virtually like me!

Kate

Not at CppConhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=80b293ba-6e73-4a96-a1c1-6a789cce54ebhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/NotAtCppCon.aspx
Fri, 16 Sep 2016 14:59:08 GMTIt has been a <b>very </b>busy summer for me. Mostly it's been great, with family
visits from all over the world and the wedding of my oldest child. But there have
been some challenges, too. Without going into details, I've had to cancel plans to
speak at (and even attend) <a href="http://cppcon.org/">CppCon</a>. This is really
sad - CppCon was the largest C++ conference ever when it started in 2014, and has
grown remarkably ever since. It's a place where I learn new things, make new friends
and contacts, and meet old friends for a wonderful week of laughter, in-jokes, and
brain-stretching.
<br>
<br>
I am hoping that within a few months, I'll be "back in the saddle" again and planning
a 2017 full of speaking and learning. In the meantime, I'll be following <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CppCon?src=hash">#CppCon</a> on
twitter, and watching <a href="http://youtube.com/cppcon">the YouTube channel</a> for
new videos - the plenaries and keynotes get up really fast. If you're not there in
person, be there virtually like me!<br>
<br>
Kate<br>
<p>
</p>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=80b293ba-6e73-4a96-a1c1-6a789cce54eb" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=80b293ba-6e73-4a96-a1c1-6a789cce54ebC++Consulting LifeMetaSpeakinghttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=44ea286b-5d0e-4dca-b4be-e8426a4fa2f8http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=44ea286b-5d0e-4dca-b4be-e8426a4fa2f8Kate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=44ea286b-5d0e-4dca-b4be-e8426a4fa2f8http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=44ea286b-5d0e-4dca-b4be-e8426a4fa2f81

I've started a C++ column in Visual Studio Magazine. I'm sure you've read plenty of
C++ columns in your time - I sure have! I wanted this one to be a little different.
So, here's what I've decided to do. For each column, I choose a guidelines from the
C++ Core Guidelines, and then explain it. But the twist is that I'm not going through
the guidelines from top to bottom - I'm picking guidelines whose explanations require
a little language knowledge.

The
first column just sets the stage and explains what I'm doing, and gives you a
link to the Guidelines. The second, Don't
Cast Away Const, explains the guideline, but also the consequences of const-correctness,
a typical situation where you might find it hard to stay const-correct when you make
a performance tweak to a running system, and the correct use of the mutable keyword.
Not bad for explaining a four-word guideline!

I have a number of columns already written and plans to write more. Please check them
out and spread the word!

Kate

New Column in Visual Studio Magazinehttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=44ea286b-5d0e-4dca-b4be-e8426a4fa2f8http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/NewColumnInVisualStudioMagazine.aspx
Fri, 29 Apr 2016 21:17:26 GMT<p>
I've started a C++ column in Visual Studio Magazine. I'm sure you've read plenty of
C++ columns in your time - I sure have! I wanted this one to be a little different.
So, here's what I've decided to do. For each column, I choose a guidelines from the
C++ Core Guidelines, and then explain it. But the twist is that I'm not going through
the guidelines from top to bottom - I'm picking guidelines whose explanations require
a little language knowledge.
</p>
<p>
<a href="https://visualstudiomagazine.com/articles/2016/04/19/intro-to-cpp-core-guidelines.aspx">The
first column</a> just sets the stage and explains what I'm doing, and gives you a
link to the Guidelines. The second, <a href="https://visualstudiomagazine.com/articles/2016/04/26/dont-cast-away-const-in-cpp.aspx">Don't
Cast Away Const</a>, explains the guideline, but also the consequences of const-correctness,
a typical situation where you might find it hard to stay const-correct when you make
a performance tweak to a running system, and the correct use of the mutable keyword.
Not bad for explaining a four-word guideline!
</p>
<p>
I have a number of columns already written and plans to write more. Please check them
out and spread the word!
</p>
<p>
Kate
</p>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=44ea286b-5d0e-4dca-b4be-e8426a4fa2f8" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=44ea286b-5d0e-4dca-b4be-e8426a4fa2f8C++C++ GuidelinesMentoringSeen and Recommendedhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=defc6bbc-c40d-4b4d-ac69-c46c14482550http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=defc6bbc-c40d-4b4d-ac69-c46c14482550Kate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=defc6bbc-c40d-4b4d-ac69-c46c14482550http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=defc6bbc-c40d-4b4d-ac69-c46c14482550
My latest Pluralsight course is live! It's
called First
Look: C++ Core Guidelines and the Guideline Support Library and it introduces
the guidelines and why you might want to use them, as well as some preliminary tool
support. As always, if you need a free trial, use the link in the sidebar on the right.

Pluralsight courses now have trailers. This is my first course with one and it turned
out a lot better than I expected. You don't need a subscription to watch the trailer
- just go to the course
page, and over on the right side there are these downward pointing triangles next
to time lengths. Click the one for Course Overview which is 1m 49s, and you'll see
one entry under it that also says Course Overview 1m 49s.

Click that and the player will open and play the trailer. I did the voice recording,
and some Pluralsight elves put together visuals (some are excerpts from demos) around
it. I like it! Let me know what you think.

KateQuick course (98 minutes) to get you started with the C++ Core Guidelineshttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=defc6bbc-c40d-4b4d-ac69-c46c14482550http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/QuickCourse98MinutesToGetYouStartedWithTheCCoreGuidelines.aspx
Thu, 24 Mar 2016 18:10:15 GMTMy latest Pluralsight course is live! It's called <a href="https://www.pluralsight.com/courses/cplusplus-core-guidelines-and-support-library-first-look">First
Look: C++ Core Guidelines and the Guideline Support Library</a> and it introduces
the guidelines and why you might want to use them, as well as some preliminary tool
support. As always, if you need a free trial, use the link in the sidebar on the right.<br>
<br>
Pluralsight courses now have trailers. This is my first course with one and it turned
out a lot better than I expected. You don't need a subscription to watch the trailer
- just go to the <a href="https://www.pluralsight.com/courses/cplusplus-core-guidelines-and-support-library-first-look">course
page, </a>and over on the right side there are these downward pointing triangles next
to time lengths. Click the one for Course Overview which is 1m 49s, and you'll see
one entry under it that also says Course Overview 1m 49s.
<br>
<br>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/overview.jpg" height="177" width="465" border="0">
<br>
<br>
Click that and the player will open and play the trailer. I did the voice recording,
and some Pluralsight elves put together visuals (some are excerpts from demos) around
it. I like it! Let me know what you think.<br>
<br>
Kate<br>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=defc6bbc-c40d-4b4d-ac69-c46c14482550" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=defc6bbc-c40d-4b4d-ac69-c46c14482550C++C++ GuidelinesMentoringSpeakingVisual Studio 2015http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=25efe5a9-ce2f-432c-8ba2-572c496226d6http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=25efe5a9-ce2f-432c-8ba2-572c496226d6Kate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=25efe5a9-ce2f-432c-8ba2-572c496226d6http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=25efe5a9-ce2f-432c-8ba2-572c496226d61

I’ve been hearing that the new search and browse functionality on Pluralsight isn’t
working for everyone, and that the sheer volume of courses makes some hard to find.
So I thought I’d make a list of my current courses in the hope of simplifying things
for those who want to learn something specific.

This is the most recent Visual Studio course and it starts at the beginning and goes
well past what most people know about Visual Studio. I’m confident that even if you
use Visual Studio every day, you’ll learn something in this course that will make
you more productive.

Most developers find StackOverflow results whenever they do a web search for a particular
error message, or some API they’re having trouble using. Many of them tell me that
when they try to sign up and actually ask and answer questions, they have an unpleasant
experience. Often, it’s because their mental model of the site does not match the
way it actually works. This course will show you how it works, so you can get the
answers you need and not feel rejected or hurt by the way these sites work.

This course is aimed at people who have never programmed before. If you’ve programmed,
in any language, consider C++ Fundamentals instead. If you don’t believe anyone can
learn C++ as a first language, I’m ready to argue with you. Modern C++ is a simple
and useful language that a beginner can learn and use well.

These courses were written in 2011 but hold up well. Here is where you’ll learn the
basic syntax of the language and how everything works, including templates, pointers,
lambdas, and exceptions. Watch both parts to learn the whole language, then dive into
C++ Advanced Topics to round out your C++ knowledge.

I have other courses – on older versions of Visual Studio, for example, but these
are the “big” ones for me at the moment. I hope this list helps you to find them.
And remember, if you need a free trial, use this
link. Click Subscribe, then Start 10-Day Trial, and you’ll be all set.

The first
keynote at CppCon this
year was Bjarne Stroustrup (who invented the C++ language) announcing the C++
Core Guidelines. They are on Github and once he announced them, as Herb Sutter
reported in the second
keynote the very next day, they quickly became a trending topic across all languages.
Here is a description of the guidelines from there:

The C++ Core Guidelines are a collaborative effort led by Bjarne Stroustrup, much
like the C++ language itself. They are the result of many person-years of discussion
and design across a number of organizations. Their design encourages general applicability
and broad adoption but they can be freely copied and modified to meet your organization's
needs.

The aim of the guidelines is to help people to use modern C++ effectively. By "modern
C++" we mean C++11 and C++14 (and soon C++17). In other words, what would you like
your code to look like in 5 years' time, given that you can start now? In 10 years'
time?

The guidelines are focused on relatively higher-level issues, such as interfaces,
resource management, memory management, and concurrency. Such rules affect application
architecture and library design. Following the rules will lead to code that is statically
type safe, has no resource leaks, and catches many more programming logic errors than
is common in code today. And it will run fast - you can afford to do things right.

To me, these guidelines are the key to getting across my fundamental message that
C++ does not have to be hard, scary, complicated, or dangerous. The language may still
say “it’s your foot!” but the guidelines, and the tools they can drive, are quite
the opposite.

You probably know that Visual Studio has a static analyser built in. (You should,
anyway, I’ve blogged about it.) It will catch things like this:

int* p = nullptr;
*p = 10;

But it doesn’t mind things like this:

int arr[10];
int* p2 = arr;

Two lines, two violations of the guidelines – I’m not initializing any of the elements
of arr, and then I am using its address as a regular old pointer. Now, there’s nothing
wrong with regular old pointers – some people have got quite a hate on for them with
the rise of genuinely smart pointers, but pointers are fine. Using pointers to control
lifetime isn’t fine, because it’s impossibly difficult. But pointers themselves are
fine. What’s not fine here is the “decay” of an array into a pointer – folks from
other languages don’t expect that at all, and some marvelous bugs have hidden behind
this simple bit of helpfulness from the compiler. So there’s a guideline that
says don’t do that. Specifically:

(I’m giving you a picture of code because if you want to copy and paste you should
go to the live, always updated, guidelines on github.)

This guideline is part of a “profile” – a particular set of rules that are designed
to be enforced and that are supported by tools. Well, when I say tools I might
be overstating the case a little. There’s just one tool at the moment, but that could
be enough!

This tool, C++ Core
Checker, is on the NuGet Gallery. You don’t have to get it from there though.
You get it, and use it, from inside Visual Studio 2015. Any version will do. If you
don’t use Visual Studio normally, just get and install the Community Edition, which
is free and is ok to use for commercial purposes, from https://www.visualstudio.com/
. (Need the fine print? if you’re using it as a person, you can do whatever you like.
If you work for a company with less than 250 PCs and less than a million dollars US
in revenue, again you and up to 4 of your coworkers can use it for whatever you like.
If you work for an “enterprise” company then any and all of the employees can still
use it for learning purposes or to work on open source.) Note that Visual C++ isn’t
part of the Typical install, so you’ll need to choose Custom and select Visual C++:

So once you have Community Edition or some edition of Visual Studio, make a console
application and put in the two bad lines of code. Build it and then also run static
analysis on it (On the Analyze menu, choose Run Code Analysis, On Solution.) You won’t
get any warnings or errors. That’s your pre-guidelines life. You’re doing something
inappropriate and nobody is telling you.

Now, add the checker to your solution. This is solution-by-solution, not a change
to how Visual Studio does static analysis. On the Tools menu, choose NuGet Package
Manager, Package Manager Console. In the console window that appears, type Install-Package
Microsoft.CppCoreCheck and press enter. You will
see output like this:

Where it says "type.5" and there's a link, that's to the specific rule in the "type"
profile that this code breaks. And where it says "bounds.3", the same - I showed a
picture of bounds.3 up above.

Isn’t that great? Come on, it’s great! The tool will add more rules as we move through
2016. I’m going to have a lot more to say about the Guidelines as well. But this is
a great place to start.Why not point it at some of your own code and see what happens?

Kate

C++ Core Guidelines and Checking Toolhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=f52cd6c4-c8fd-4801-b8d1-71cb980beef6http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CCoreGuidelinesAndCheckingTool.aspx
Mon, 07 Dec 2015 18:54:57 GMT<p>
The <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OEu9C51K2A&amp;index=1&amp;list=PLHTh1InhhwT75gykhs7pqcR_uSiG601oh">first
keynote</a> at <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHTh1InhhwT75gykhs7pqcR_uSiG601oh">CppCon </a>this
year was Bjarne Stroustrup (who invented the C++ language) announcing the <a href="https://github.com/isocpp/cppcoreguidelines">C++
Core Guidelines</a>. They are on Github and once he announced them, as Herb Sutter
reported in the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hEx5DNLWGgA&amp;index=2&amp;list=PLHTh1InhhwT75gykhs7pqcR_uSiG601oh">second
keynote</a> the very next day, they quickly became a trending topic across all languages.
Here is a description of the guidelines from there:
</p>
<blockquote>
<p>
The C++ Core Guidelines are a collaborative effort led by Bjarne Stroustrup, much
like the C++ language itself. They are the result of many person-years of discussion
and design across a number of organizations. Their design encourages general applicability
and broad adoption but they can be freely copied and modified to meet your organization's
needs.
</p>
</blockquote><blockquote>
<p>
The aim of the guidelines is to help people to use modern C++ effectively. By "modern
C++" we mean C++11 and C++14 (and soon C++17). In other words, what would you like
your code to look like in 5 years' time, given that you can start now? In 10 years'
time?
</p>
</blockquote><blockquote>
<p>
The guidelines are focused on relatively higher-level issues, such as interfaces,
resource management, memory management, and concurrency. Such rules affect application
architecture and library design. Following the rules will lead to code that is statically
type safe, has no resource leaks, and catches many more programming logic errors than
is common in code today. And it will run fast - you can afford to do things right.
</p>
</blockquote>
<p>
To me, these guidelines are the key to getting across my fundamental message that
C++ does not have to be hard, scary, complicated, or dangerous. The language may still
say “it’s your foot!” but the guidelines, and the tools they can drive, are quite
the opposite.
</p>
<p>
You probably know that Visual Studio has a static analyser built in. (You should,
anyway, I’ve blogged about it.) It will catch things like this:
</p>
<p>
&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;int* p = nullptr;<br>
&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;*p = 10;&nbsp; &nbsp;
</p>
<p>
But it doesn’t mind things like this:
</p>
<p>
&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;int arr[10];&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;<br>
&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;int* p2 = arr;
</p>
<p>
Two lines, two violations of the guidelines – I’m not initializing any of the elements
of arr, and then I am using its address as a regular old pointer. Now, there’s nothing
wrong with regular old pointers – some people have got quite a hate on for them with
the rise of genuinely smart pointers, but pointers are fine. Using pointers to control
lifetime isn’t fine, because it’s impossibly difficult. But pointers themselves are
fine. What’s not fine here is the “decay” of an array into a pointer – folks from
other languages don’t expect that at all, and some marvelous bugs have hidden behind
this simple bit of helpfulness from the compiler. So there’s a <a href="https://github.com/isocpp/CppCoreGuidelines/blob/master/CppCoreGuidelines.md#Pro-bounds-decay">guideline </a>that
says don’t do that. Specifically:<br>
<a href="https://github.com/isocpp/CppCoreGuidelines/blob/master/CppCoreGuidelines.md#Pro-bounds-decay"><img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/bounds3.jpg" border="0" width="700"></a>
</p>
<p>
(I’m giving you a picture of code because if you want to copy and paste you should
go to the live, always updated, guidelines on github.)
</p>
<p>
This guideline is part of a “profile” – a particular set of rules that are designed
to be enforced and that are supported by tools. Well, when I say <i>tools </i>I might
be overstating the case a little. There’s just one tool at the moment, but that could
be enough!
</p>
<p>
This tool, <a href="https://www.nuget.org/packages/Microsoft.CppCoreCheck/">C++ Core
Checker</a>, is on the NuGet Gallery. You don’t have to get it from there though.
You get it, and use it, from inside Visual Studio 2015. Any version will do. If you
don’t use Visual Studio normally, just get and install the Community Edition, which
is free and is ok to use for commercial purposes, from https://www.visualstudio.com/
. (Need the fine print? if you’re using it as a person, you can do whatever you like.
If you work for a company with less than 250 PCs and less than a million dollars US
in revenue, again you and up to 4 of your coworkers can use it for whatever you like.
If you work for an “enterprise” company then any and all of the employees can still
use it for learning purposes or to work on open source.) Note that Visual C++ isn’t
part of the Typical install, so you’ll need to choose Custom and select Visual C++:
</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/custominstall.jpg" border="0" width="230">
</p>
<p>
So once you have Community Edition or some edition of Visual Studio, make a console
application and put in the two bad lines of code. Build it and then also run static
analysis on it (On the Analyze menu, choose Run Code Analysis, On Solution.) You won’t
get any warnings or errors. That’s your pre-guidelines life. You’re doing something
inappropriate and nobody is telling you.
</p>
<p>
Now, add the checker to your solution. This is solution-by-solution, not a change
to how Visual Studio does static analysis. On the Tools menu, choose NuGet Package
Manager, Package Manager Console. In the console window that appears, type <font face="Courier New">Install-Package
Microsoft.CppCoreCheck<font face="Verdana"> and press enter</font></font>. You will
see output like this:
</p>
<p>
Attempting to gather dependencies information for package 'Microsoft.CppCoreCheck.14.0.23107.2'
with respect to project 'ConsoleApplication1', targeting 'native,Version=v0.0'<br>
Attempting to resolve dependencies for package 'Microsoft.CppCoreCheck.14.0.23107.2'
with DependencyBehavior 'Lowest'<br>
Resolving actions to install package 'Microsoft.CppCoreCheck.14.0.23107.2'<br>
Resolved actions to install package 'Microsoft.CppCoreCheck.14.0.23107.2'<br>
Adding package 'Microsoft.Gsl.0.0.1' to folder 'c:\users\kate\documents\visual studio
2015\Projects\ConsoleApplication1\packages'<br>
Added package 'Microsoft.Gsl.0.0.1' to folder 'c:\users\kate\documents\visual studio
2015\Projects\ConsoleApplication1\packages'<br>
Added package 'Microsoft.Gsl.0.0.1' to 'packages.config'<br>
Successfully installed 'Microsoft.Gsl 0.0.1' to ConsoleApplication1<br>
Adding package 'Microsoft.CppCoreCheck.14.0.23107.2' to folder 'c:\users\kate\documents\visual
studio 2015\Projects\ConsoleApplication1\packages'<br>
Added package 'Microsoft.CppCoreCheck.14.0.23107.2' to folder 'c:\users\kate\documents\visual
studio 2015\Projects\ConsoleApplication1\packages'<br>
Added package 'Microsoft.CppCoreCheck.14.0.23107.2' to 'packages.config'<br>
Successfully installed 'Microsoft.CppCoreCheck 14.0.23107.2' to ConsoleApplication1<br>
PM&gt;<br>
<br>
This changes your project settings so that analysis runs this Core Checker for you.
Repeat the analysis step and this time the new tool will run and you will get output
like this:<br>
------ Rebuild All started: Project: ConsoleApplication1, Configuration: Debug Win32
------<br>
&nbsp; stdafx.cpp<br>
&nbsp; ConsoleApplication1.cpp<br>
&nbsp; ConsoleApplication1.vcxproj -&gt; c:\users\kate\documents\visual studio 2015\Projects\ConsoleApplication1\Debug\ConsoleApplication1.exe<br>
c:\users\kate\documents\visual studio 2015\projects\consoleapplication1\consoleapplication1\consoleapplication1.cpp(9):
warning C26494: Variable 'arr' is uninitialized. Always initialize an object. (type.5:
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkID=620421)<br>
c:\users\kate\documents\visual studio 2015\projects\consoleapplication1\consoleapplication1\consoleapplication1.cpp(10):
warning C26485: Expression 'arr': No array to pointer decay. (bounds.3: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/p/?LinkID=620415)<br>
========== Rebuild All: 1 succeeded, 0 failed, 0 skipped ==========
</p>
<p>
Where it says "type.5" and there's a link, that's to the specific rule in the "type"
profile that this code breaks. And where it says "bounds.3", the same - I showed a
picture of bounds.3 up above.<br>
</p>
<p>
Isn’t that great? Come on, it’s great! The tool will add more rules as we move through
2016. I’m going to have a lot more to say about the Guidelines as well. But this is
a great place to start.Why not point it at some of your own code and see what happens?<br>
</p>
<p>
Kate
</p>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=f52cd6c4-c8fd-4801-b8d1-71cb980beef6" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=f52cd6c4-c8fd-4801-b8d1-71cb980beef6C++Consulting LifeSeen and RecommendedVisual Studio 2015C++ Guidelineshttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=9822ef2b-bb8e-438c-a04c-0b567dd78478http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=9822ef2b-bb8e-438c-a04c-0b567dd78478Kate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=9822ef2b-bb8e-438c-a04c-0b567dd78478http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=9822ef2b-bb8e-438c-a04c-0b567dd78478
Back
when I first started going to conferences, the schedules typically ran 9 or 9:30 to
4 or 4:30. I used to bring a book to read in the evenings in case I didn’t like what
was on TV. Then I started getting invited to dinners and parties and planning meetings
and conference days got a lot longer for me. But what I’ve noticed recently is that
conference days are getting a lot longer for everyone. People have come all this way
and are willing to pack a lot into each day. I’m writing this on the last day of CppCon where
there is content starting at 8am and running until 10pm. There's even content over
the two hour lunch break! That’s a long day, and a bunch of them in a row makes for
a long long week. So here are some tips for how to handle that kind of week. I’m going
to be specific to CppCon, because I think a lot of my readers should attend it, but
other conferences will have equivalents to everything I’m mentioning here; I’ll let
you do the mapping yourself.

First, have a schedule. Weeks before the conference, mark out what talks you want
to attend. Have a goal of selecting two talks in most time slots. Then if your first
choice is not as good as you expected, or the room is full and you don’t want to stand,
you know exactly where to go for your second choice. Have that schedule in your pocket
– on your phone, or on a piece of paper – so you have no lost time figuring out where
to go. (CppCon uses Sched, which mails you each day's schedule in the morning, making
it easy to have with you.) Don’t be the person who shows up at 9 only to learn there
were sessions at 8. Check the schedule at least once a day during the conference in
case things are being added. Tip: things are being added, you can count on it.

Second, plan ahead to take care of the physical body that is carrying your brain from
session to session. It’s really a simple matter to have a few granola bars and a bottle
of water in your bag. If you miss a snack, you can still have something to eat or
drink. Bring a light sweater in case you are in the cold room. Bring some painkillers
if you might get a headache from sitting somewhere loud. Bring whatever little comforts
you need to keep yourself from getting whiny and leaving early to go to your peaceful
hotel room and watch TV. (That said, there’s always one day in a one-week conference
where I go back to my room for an afternoon nap. It’s the only way I can stay functional
during long and intellectually-intense days. Just make sure you’re doing it for a
brain recharge and not for something you could have avoided by bringing a small item
with you to the conference centre.)

Third, think about how you’re going to take notes. A paper notebook? Bring a spare
pen, too. Your phone? Your laptop? Or are you just going to immerse yourself in the
experience and use the videos if you want to check something later? Whatever your
plan is, bring what you need to be able to use it. Power is always a challenge at
conferences – I like to bring an external battery for my phone so it can charge in
my bag. Think about what your bag is going to weigh and consider leaving the laptop
at the hotel and getting by with a phone and some paper for notes. It’s really liberating
not to be lugging a heavy bag, in fact surprisingly so.

Fourth, before you arrive (at the latest, on the plane to the conference) write up
your goals for the conference. Do you want to meet people? Specific people, or some
number of people, or people from a particular industry? Do you want to learn something
specific? (Perhaps this is the year to understand SFINAE, or be able to follow along
in a talk that includes template meta programming, or “get” those Haskell jokes people
are always telling.) Maybe you want to
tell people about something? Tweet some number of times? Blog some number of times? Have
a plan. Have goals. Check yourself against these goals each morning, and adjust your
plan for the day if you need to, so that you move towards those goals each day.

When you arrive at the conference, scout out the amenities. Where are the bathrooms?
Are there tables and chairs? Are there tables and chairs with power? On Day 1, pay
close attention to the food and drink pattern. Is coffee always available, or only
at certain times? Where does the food appear? Knowing this will take away any worry
you may be carrying around that you may miss something and not get another chance
at it. It will also save you from taking extras of things and lugging them around
all day when you don’t really need them. I also like to work out patterns related
to what rooms I’ll be in – that I’ll be on the same floor all afternoon, for example.
It just makes me feel a little more settled and centred.

Looking after your body doesn’t stop with what you planned and what you brought. I
start each day with 5 minutes of stretching which makes a big difference to how I
feel all day. I also try to use the stairs instead of the escalators – less lining
up and it makes me feel better too. I go ahead and eat the snacks, many of which are
not part of my normal day (brownies in the afternoon? bag of chips at lunch?) but
not to excess. CppCon has fruit and other options that are not all about fat, sugar,
and caffeine, and it’s often a smart choice to go with those rather than the straight-up
treats. Try not to get too far from normal. If you normally have 5 cups of coffee
a day, then you can do that during the conference, but if you’re a one-cup-a-day person,
perhaps don’t go beyond 2 or 3 a day while you’re here. Same advice for alcohol –
if you dramatically increase your consumption over the course of the week, you’re
likely to feel uncomfortable by the time Thursday or Friday rolls around. The one
thing you should be sure to take in more of than usual is water – whether you’re eating
more sugar than usual, drinking more caffeine and alcohol than usual, or just walking
a lot more than usual from room to room in a conference centre, extra water is what
you need to compensate. If you grab a bottle of water at a snack break, hang on to
it when it’s empty – typically most conference rooms have a watercooler or bubbler
by the door where you can refill that bottle whenever you want. Can’t stand water?
Bring something to flavour it with – pick up some powders or drops at home and try
them out to see which one you like. It’s way more efficient than hanging around hoping
that this is the break they have juice at, or leaving the conference centre on a half
hour walk for a convenience store.

As the conference goes on, be aware of how you are spending your time. For example,
if you check your email during a session, but then take a peek at Twitter, and then
at your personal Facebook – are you even really in the session anymore? Don’t be afraid
to leave if this is not the session for you. You can go to another one, or talk to
other attendees out in the hall, or go back to the hotel for a one hour nap. Almost
anything is better than ignoring a speaker and killing time on your laptop or phone.
And if you’re not prepared to leave, then perhaps you just need to start paying more
attention to the session – assuming it’s material you actually are interested in.
Take a look at those goals you wrote. Have you tweeted recently? Blogged? Learned
that thing? Met enough people? Will staying in this session and listening meet your
goals, or should you go out to the hall and work on a goal? Are you just chatting
with your own coworkers, or someone you’ve known for years? Building and strengthening
relationships is great, of course. That doesn’t mean that discussing the football
game with your cubicle-mate is a good use of your time at a place you flew 5 hours
to attend. Maybe you can walk around and find a way to join a conversation with a
speaker or someone else you wouldn’t normally meet. Just standing there listening
can be very enlightening even if you don’t end up saying much.

If you’re not normally a tweeter, blogger, or talker-to-strangers, a conference is
a great place to start. There are immediate benefits. Perhaps your question will be
answered, or your point will be repeated and quoted, or you’ll make a new friend or
business connection. This will give you reinforcement for doing that, of course. As
you meet your goals, make a record of that, so you can easily answer questions about
what you learned or accomplished during the conference. Consider writing a summary
when you’re done – for yourself, or for whoever funded the trip. A chronological structure
is natural – Monday morning I went to a talk called X and learned Y or met Z, at lunch
Monday I talked to A and B who encouraged me to look into C, Monday afternoon I went
to a talk on C – but be sure to have an executive summary that reads a little less
like a diary. Start writing it during the conference and polish it on the trip home.
Once you get back to the office, writing that summary is going to get harder and harder,
so don’t put it off.

Attending conferences is a great way to boost your career – when you do it well you
learn a lot in a short time, meet luminaries of your industry and people just like
you, raise your profile and your confidence, and have a wonderful time. When you do
it poorly, you get tired, hungover, lonely, overwhelmed, and bored. Put in the effort
to plan and prepare, and you will be in a great position to reap the rewards.

One of the CppCon sponsors, Bloomberg, is running
a contest for
students in university or college and giving away trips to attend CppCon2015 in September
in Bellevue, Washington:

The series of seven weekly challenges will kick off on June 22, 2015, and each week
contestants will be provided a different set of problems to solve via Bloomberg’s
cloud-based CodeCon platform. Each week’s winner will earn a trip to CppCon in September.
The list of seven winners will be announced and notified via email on August 5.

Interested? You should be. CppCon is a great experience for students and one you won't
soon forget.

Kate

Are you a student? Win a trip to CppConhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=65abf2e3-40c7-45ff-831d-6682afbb5740http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/AreYouAStudentWinATripToCppCon.aspx
Thu, 11 Jun 2015 19:38:34 GMT<p>
One of the <a href="http://cppcon.org/">CppCon </a>sponsors, Bloomberg, is running
a <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/company/announcements/special-c-codecon-challenge-cppcon-now-open-registration/">contest </a>for
students in university or college and giving away trips to attend CppCon2015 in September
in Bellevue, Washington:
</p>
<blockquote>
<p>
The series of seven weekly challenges will kick off on June 22, 2015, and each week
contestants will be provided a different set of problems to solve via Bloomberg’s
cloud-based CodeCon platform. Each week’s winner will earn a trip to CppCon in September.
The list of seven winners will be announced and notified via email on August 5.
</p>
</blockquote>
<p>
Interested? You should be. CppCon is a great experience for students and one you won't
soon forget.
</p>
<p>
Kate
</p>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=65abf2e3-40c7-45ff-831d-6682afbb5740" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=65abf2e3-40c7-45ff-831d-6682afbb5740C++Consulting LifeSeen and Recommendedhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=509f46c5-ec4a-4088-8b3e-3b1a238e300bhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=509f46c5-ec4a-4088-8b3e-3b1a238e300bKate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=509f46c5-ec4a-4088-8b3e-3b1a238e300bhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=509f46c5-ec4a-4088-8b3e-3b1a238e300b1

James and I are adding quite a lot of material, so if you saw this talk at CppCon,
you should probably come and see it again at ACCU. Alternatively, you could come to
the conferences and watch one of the conflicting talks and take excellent notes, because
I really wish I could be at those as well!

I first went to ACCU two years ago, spending my own money for travel and the registration
fee. I enjoyed it immensely and learned a lot, so it's a real thrill to be speaking
there this year. I can't wait!

Early bird rates last
till the end of February. Register as soon as you can, and I'll see you there.

Kate

ACCU 2015 - I'm Speakinghttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=509f46c5-ec4a-4088-8b3e-3b1a238e300bhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/ACCU2015ImSpeaking.aspx
Tue, 13 Jan 2015 17:48:48 GMT<p>
ACCU has announced the <a href="http://accu.org/index.php/conferences/accu_conference_2015/accu2015_schedule">schedule
for their 2015 conference</a> in Bristol, so I can announce that it includes me!
</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/thursmorn.jpg" border="0" width="500">
</p>
<p>
James and I are adding quite a lot of material, so if you saw this talk at CppCon,
you should probably come and see it again at ACCU. Alternatively, you could come to
the conferences and watch one of the conflicting talks and take excellent notes, because
I really wish I could be at those as well!
</p>
<p>
I first went to ACCU two years ago, spending my own money for travel and the registration
fee. I enjoyed it immensely and learned a lot, so it's a real thrill to be speaking
there this year. I can't wait!
</p>
<p>
<a href="http://accu.org/index.php/conferences/accu_conference_2015">Early bird rates</a> last
till the end of February. Register as soon as you can, and I'll see you there.
</p>
<p>
Kate<br>
</p>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=509f46c5-ec4a-4088-8b3e-3b1a238e300b" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=509f46c5-ec4a-4088-8b3e-3b1a238e300bC++Seen and RecommendedSpeakingTravelhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=e3bb31c3-305b-4ca1-9162-d6ba490758f0http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=e3bb31c3-305b-4ca1-9162-d6ba490758f0Kate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=e3bb31c3-305b-4ca1-9162-d6ba490758f0http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=e3bb31c3-305b-4ca1-9162-d6ba490758f0

Earlier this year I flew to Utah for the Pluralsight Author Summit. Spending time
with such a great collection of my friends and colleagues, and learning more about
how to make a great course, was the real reason for the trip, but I got up early one
morning to record a
Play by Play video with Geoffrey Grosenbach. He has a genuine skill of getting
you to demonstrate your own thought processes aloud and I've enjoyed watching other
people's Play by Play sessions a lot.

Geoffrey had arranged for some ancient C++ code for me to poke around in. Mike
Woodring came through with the sample code from his 1997 book with Aaron Cohen, WIN32
Multithreaded Programming. Seventeen-year old code it may have been, but it turned
out not to be quite as ugly as I would have liked. Still, we put it through its paces
a little and talked about how I approach this sort of task.

It came out to about 90 minutes overall so if you have a chance to watch it, let me
know what you thought!

Kate

Play By Play video session - exploring ancient C++ codehttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=e3bb31c3-305b-4ca1-9162-d6ba490758f0http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PlayByPlayVideoSessionExploringAncientCCode.aspx
Tue, 12 Aug 2014 17:34:43 GMT<p>
Earlier this year I flew to Utah for the Pluralsight Author Summit. Spending time
with such a great collection of my friends and colleagues, and learning more about
how to make a great course, was the real reason for the trip, but I got up early one
morning to record <a href="http://beta.pluralsight.com/courses/play-by-play-kate-gregory">a
Play by Play video</a> with Geoffrey Grosenbach. He has a genuine skill of getting
you to demonstrate your own thought processes aloud and I've enjoyed watching <a href="http://beta.pluralsight.com/tag/play%20by%20play">other
people's Play by Play sessions</a> a lot.
</p>
<p>
Geoffrey had arranged for some ancient C++ code for me to poke around in. <a href="http://beta.pluralsight.com/author/mike-woodring">Mike
Woodring</a> came through with the sample code from his 1997 book with Aaron Cohen, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/WIN32-Multithreaded-Programming-Aaron-Cohen/dp/1565922964">WIN32
Multithreaded Programming</a>. Seventeen-year old code it may have been, but it turned
out not to be quite as ugly as I would have liked. Still, we put it through its paces
a little and talked about how I approach this sort of task.
</p>
<p>
<a href="http://beta.pluralsight.com/courses/play-by-play-kate-gregory"><img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/pbp.jpg" border="0"></a>
</p>
<p>
It came out to about 90 minutes overall so if you have a chance to watch it, let me
know what you thought!
</p>
<p>
Kate
</p>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=e3bb31c3-305b-4ca1-9162-d6ba490758f0" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=e3bb31c3-305b-4ca1-9162-d6ba490758f0C++ConcurrencyConsulting LifeSeen and RecommendedSpeakinghttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=f35eaa58-7366-4620-afce-715da6dd4bffhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=f35eaa58-7366-4620-afce-715da6dd4bffKate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=f35eaa58-7366-4620-afce-715da6dd4bffhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=f35eaa58-7366-4620-afce-715da6dd4bff

How fun is this going to be? (A lot!)

I'm going to speak at this next February! One of my big deciding factors was the other
speakers. Erik Meijer, Greg Young, Michael Feathers, me, and one speaker still to
be named. It's a small gathering to talk about software engineering. I'm still working
on precisely what my two talks will cover, but expect it to include C++, legacy code,
best practices, being "modern" in your C++, and related topics. Two days of intensive
geekery wrapped around two days visiting the Bahamas! Space
is still available so why not consider it? Brought to you by the Code
on the Beach people, so you know they know how to do this.

Kate

Speaking at Code on the Sea - a conference on a cruise!http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=f35eaa58-7366-4620-afce-715da6dd4bffhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SpeakingAtCodeOnTheSeaAConferenceOnACruise.aspx
Sun, 03 Aug 2014 14:04:10 GMT<p>
How fun is this going to be? (A lot!)
</p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.codeonthesea.com/"><img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/cots.jpg"></a>
</p>
<p>
I'm going to speak at this next February! One of my big deciding factors was the other
speakers. Erik Meijer, Greg Young, Michael Feathers, me, and one speaker still to
be named. It's a small gathering to talk about software engineering. I'm still working
on precisely what my two talks will cover, but expect it to include C++, legacy code,
best practices, being "modern" in your C++, and related topics. Two days of intensive
geekery wrapped around two days visiting the Bahamas! <a href="http://www.codeonthesea.com/">Space
is still available</a> so why not consider it? Brought to you by the <a href="http://www.codeonthebeach.com/">Code
on the Beach</a> people, so you know they know how to do this.
</p>
<p>
Kate
</p>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=f35eaa58-7366-4620-afce-715da6dd4bff" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=f35eaa58-7366-4620-afce-715da6dd4bffC++Consulting LifeSpeakingTravelhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=ec9a4672-7316-4f57-9327-caae3e119337http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=ec9a4672-7316-4f57-9327-caae3e119337Kate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=ec9a4672-7316-4f57-9327-caae3e119337http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=ec9a4672-7316-4f57-9327-caae3e119337

It's just around the corner - the largest C++ conference EVER with over one hundred
talks!

And two of those talks I'll be doing with James McNellis. We had such a good time
presenting together for Microsoft Virtual Academy that we decided to do it again.
How do these sound?

C++ is a programming language with a long, storied history spanning over three decades--four
if one includes its C ancestry. The C++ language has undergone many changes during
that time, compiler technology has advanced substantially, and computers today are
very different from the computers of decades past. But despite all of these advances,
there's an awful lot of C++ code in use today that looks like it was written in the
1980s. In some cases, the code was written in the 1980s and it's still in use; in
other cases, it's recently-written code that just doesn't use modern style.

In this talk, we'll discuss some of the problems with legacy code, and review some
practical techniques for applying principles of modern C++ to gradually improve the
quality of legacy code and improve maintainability and debuggability. We'll show how
some very small changes to code can yield huge benefits.

Ask a non-C++ developer what they think of C++ and they'll give the language plenty
of compliments: powerful, fast, flexible, and "the language for smart people". But
along with that you are likely to hear ugly, complicated, hard to read, and "the language
for smart people". Is it possible to write beautiful C++? Not arcanely elegant or
wickedly compact, but readable, clear, expressive - beautiful! We say it is, and we
want to show you how.

In this session, you'll see how to turn pages of "comic book characters swearing"
into code you'll be proud to call your own. By making your code express your intent,
using the power of new language and library functionality, and leaving hard-to-read
constructs out of your vocabulary, you can give your code a makeover that will stand
the test of time.

If you're not registered yet, there's still time! All five days cost $995 and there
are one and two day passes available for less. You're going to want to meet and learn
from the stars of C++ - check the full
session list to read all about it.

Kate

Two sessions at CppCon in Septemberhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=ec9a4672-7316-4f57-9327-caae3e119337http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/TwoSessionsAtCppConInSeptember.aspx
Sat, 02 Aug 2014 18:37:09 GMT<p>
It's just around the corner - the largest C++ conference EVER with over one hundred
talks!
</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/cppcon-flair.png" border="0">
</p>
<p>
And two of those talks I'll be doing with James McNellis. We had such a good time
presenting together for Microsoft Virtual Academy that we decided to do it again.
How do these sound?
</p>
<p>
<a href="http://cppcon2014.sched.org/event/7f1ed596c545ca0c2190d018f072dfd2?iframe=no&amp;w=&amp;sidebar=yes&amp;bg=no#.U-PEqHl0zfE">Modernizing
Legacy C++ Code </a>
<br>
</p>
<blockquote>
<p>
C++ is a programming language with a long, storied history spanning over three decades--four
if one includes its C ancestry. The C++ language has undergone many changes during
that time, compiler technology has advanced substantially, and computers today are
very different from the computers of decades past. But despite all of these advances,
there's an awful lot of C++ code in use today that looks like it was written in the
1980s. In some cases, the code was written in the 1980s and it's still in use; in
other cases, it's recently-written code that just doesn't use modern style.<br>
<br>
In this talk, we'll discuss some of the problems with legacy code, and review some
practical techniques for applying principles of modern C++ to gradually improve the
quality of legacy code and improve maintainability and debuggability. We'll show how
some very small changes to code can yield huge benefits.
<br>
</p>
</blockquote>
<p>
<a class="name" id="802c1ad1e059839b3ef9802fe8bf7bef" href="http://cppcon2014.sched.org/event/802c1ad1e059839b3ef9802fe8bf7bef?iframe=no&amp;w=&amp;sidebar=yes&amp;bg=no#">Making
C++ Code Beautiful
<br>
</a>
</p>
<blockquote>
<p>
Ask a non-C++ developer what they think of C++ and they'll give the language plenty
of compliments: powerful, fast, flexible, and "the language for smart people". But
along with that you are likely to hear ugly, complicated, hard to read, and "the language
for smart people". Is it possible to write beautiful C++? Not arcanely elegant or
wickedly compact, but readable, clear, expressive - beautiful! We say it is, and we
want to show you how.
<br>
</p>
<p>
In this session, you'll see how to turn pages of "comic book characters swearing"
into code you'll be proud to call your own. By making your code express your intent,
using the power of new language and library functionality, and leaving hard-to-read
constructs out of your vocabulary, you can give your code a makeover that will stand
the test of time.
<br>
</p>
</blockquote>
<p>
If you're not registered yet, there's still time! All five days cost $995 and there
are one and two day passes available for less. You're going to want to meet and learn
from the stars of C++ - check the<a href="http://cppcon.org/conference-program/"> full
session list to read all about it.</a>
</p>
<p>
Kate
</p>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=ec9a4672-7316-4f57-9327-caae3e119337" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=ec9a4672-7316-4f57-9327-caae3e119337C++Seen and RecommendedSpeakinghttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=80f5eb25-2f7d-4234-9c1d-0ae61d8a060bhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=80f5eb25-2f7d-4234-9c1d-0ae61d8a060bKate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=80f5eb25-2f7d-4234-9c1d-0ae61d8a060bhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=80f5eb25-2f7d-4234-9c1d-0ae61d8a060b3

I was invited to speak to some Imagine Cup contestants
in Calgary and delighted to accept. I spoke to the teams informally for quite a while
about judging and judges and general team tips. I was really happy to see some teams
from previous years so I could hear what happened after they entered. If you're a
student (undergrad or grad) and would like to enter, there is theoretically still
time, but realistically it would have been better to start several months ago since
you do have to build working software. Why not take a look at the contest (there are
over a million dollars in prizes, and you can get a cool trip somewhere and meet some
industry high flyers) and start pulling together a team for next year? There's a pretty
good introduction for Canadians on the Microsoft
Canada blog.

For those of you who were at the sessions, here are the slides I used in the afternoon.
I talked about the new C++ features and why they matter, and demoed C++ AMP as a great
motivator for using C++. (I wanted to upload the pptx files, but they're too big for
the blog, so I've exported PDFs.)

Slides from my Calgary sessionshttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=80f5eb25-2f7d-4234-9c1d-0ae61d8a060bhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SlidesFromMyCalgarySessions.aspx
Sun, 23 Feb 2014 18:17:11 GMT<p>
I was invited to speak to some <a href="http://imaginecup.com/">Imagine Cup</a> contestants
in Calgary and delighted to accept. I spoke to the teams informally for quite a while
about judging and judges and general team tips. I was really happy to see some teams
from previous years so I could hear what happened after they entered. If you're a
student (undergrad or grad) and would like to enter, there is theoretically still
time, but realistically it would have been better to start several months ago since
you do have to build working software. Why not take a look at the contest (there are
over a million dollars in prizes, and you can get a cool trip somewhere and meet some
industry high flyers) and start pulling together a team for next year? There's a pretty
good introduction for Canadians on the <a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/b/cdnstudents/archive/2013/11/04/canadian-imagine-cup-2014-announced.aspx">Microsoft
Canada blog</a>.
</p>
<p>
For those of you who were at the sessions, here are the slides I used in the afternoon.
I talked about the new C++ features and why they matter, and demoed C++ AMP as a great
motivator for using C++. (I wanted to upload the pptx files, but they're too big for
the blog, so I've exported PDFs.)
</p>
<p>
Kate
</p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/GregoryCppAMP.pdf">GregoryCppAMP.pdf
(1.65 MB)</a>
</p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/Cpp11and14.pdf">Cpp11and14.pdf
(556.51 KB)</a>
</p>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=80f5eb25-2f7d-4234-9c1d-0ae61d8a060b" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=80f5eb25-2f7d-4234-9c1d-0ae61d8a060bC++ConcurrencyConsulting LifeSpeakingVisual Studio 2013http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=8d76623f-35c1-4794-8ae5-231b631e50f6http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=8d76623f-35c1-4794-8ae5-231b631e50f6Kate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=8d76623f-35c1-4794-8ae5-231b631e50f6http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=8d76623f-35c1-4794-8ae5-231b631e50f61

In a word, it was exhausting. But it was also cool from a technical point of view.
Here's a still of us I grabbed from the video recording:

The screens in front of us are touch screens. I forgot how much fun it is to demo Hilo on
a touch screen. Here's how it looked from my side (sorry about the lunch mess):

And a better view of all three cameras:

You can see that part of my job was to imagine people who wanted to learn C++ on the
other side of those cameras. And finally, here's James hard at work getting something
onto the demo machine:

I believe this picture immortalizes the moment he tweets about here:

Great day and good fun. Hope everyone learned a lot!

KateWhat was it like doing an all day Intro to C++?http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=8d76623f-35c1-4794-8ae5-231b631e50f6http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/WhatWasItLikeDoingAnAllDayIntroToC.aspx
Thu, 28 Nov 2013 23:41:15 GMT<p>
In a word, it was exhausting. But it was also cool from a technical point of view.
Here's a still of us I grabbed from the video recording:
</p>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/mva[1].jpg" border="0" width="600">
<br>
<p>
</p>
<p>
The screens in front of us are touch screens. I forgot how much fun it is to demo <a href="http://hilo.codeplex.com/">Hilo </a>on
a touch screen. Here's how it looked from my side (sorry about the lunch mess):
</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/DSCN6280.JPG" border="0" width="600">
</p>
<p>
And a better view of all three cameras:
</p>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/DSCN6281.JPG" border="0" width="600">
<p>
</p>
<p>
You can see that part of my job was to imagine people who wanted to learn C++ on the
other side of those cameras. And finally, here's James hard at work getting something
onto the demo machine:
</p>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/DSCN6282.JPG" border="0" width="600">
<p>
</p>
<p>
I believe this picture immortalizes the moment he tweets about here:
</p>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/cinder.jpg" border="0">
<br>
<br>
Great day and good fun. Hope everyone learned a lot!
<br>
<br>
Kate<br>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=8d76623f-35c1-4794-8ae5-231b631e50f6" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=8d76623f-35c1-4794-8ae5-231b631e50f6C++Consulting LifeSpeakinghttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=0cce5e8d-39d8-4297-9d01-8fe91475bc74http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=0cce5e8d-39d8-4297-9d01-8fe91475bc74Kate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=0cce5e8d-39d8-4297-9d01-8fe91475bc74http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=0cce5e8d-39d8-4297-9d01-8fe91475bc74

We went very fast through this one day introduction. If you'd like a slightly saner
pace, please check out my Pluralsight courses, C++
Fundamentals and C++
Fundamentals - Part 2. If you're not a programmer, and you'd like to "begin at
the beginning" with C++, try Learn
How to Program with C++. There is a free trial for the Pluralsight courses to
get you started.

Kate

Recording of the MVA day is availablehttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=0cce5e8d-39d8-4297-9d01-8fe91475bc74http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/RecordingOfTheMVADayIsAvailable.aspx
Wed, 27 Nov 2013 19:44:23 GMT<p>
Channel 9 has all 7 pieces of the MVA Day I did with James McNellis <a href="http://channel9.msdn.com/Series/cplusplus-language-library">available
online now</a>!
</p>
<p>
<a href="http://channel9.msdn.com/Series/cplusplus-language-library"><img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/jumpstart[1].jpg" border="0"></a>
</p>
<p>
We went very fast through this one day introduction. If you'd like a slightly saner
pace, please check out my Pluralsight courses, <a href="http://pluralsight.com/training/Courses/TableOfContents/cpp-fundamentals">C++
Fundamentals</a> and <a href="http://pluralsight.com/training/Courses/TableOfContents/cppfund2">C++
Fundamentals - Part 2</a>. If you're not a programmer, and you'd like to "begin at
the beginning" with C++, try <a href="http://pluralsight.com/training/Courses/TableOfContents/learn-programming-cplusplus">Learn
How to Program with C++</a>. There is a free trial for the Pluralsight courses to
get you started.
</p>
<p>
Kate<br>
</p>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=0cce5e8d-39d8-4297-9d01-8fe91475bc74" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=0cce5e8d-39d8-4297-9d01-8fe91475bc74C++Seen and RecommendedSpeakinghttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=116c72aa-8d4d-4a3e-9668-ecc89e064b55http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=116c72aa-8d4d-4a3e-9668-ecc89e064b55Kate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=116c72aa-8d4d-4a3e-9668-ecc89e064b55http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=116c72aa-8d4d-4a3e-9668-ecc89e064b55
The C++ Jumpstart full day event on Tuesday
was a blast! James and I really enjoyed ourselves and from the looks of the chat room,
so did the attendees. We had literally thousands of people registered for the event
and in a few weeks the recording should be available (check http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/Live-Training-Events for
a recording link - scroll past Live Events to Recorded Events) for even more people
to view.

Kate

Thanks for a great MVA day of C++http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=116c72aa-8d4d-4a3e-9668-ecc89e064b55http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/ThanksForAGreatMVADayOfC.aspx
Sat, 23 Nov 2013 18:44:50 GMTThe C++ Jumpstart full day event on Tuesday was a blast! James and I really enjoyed ourselves and from the looks of the chat room, so did the attendees. We had literally thousands of people registered for the event and in a few weeks the recording should be available (check <a href="http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/Live-Training-Events">http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/Live-Training-Events</a> for
a recording link - scroll past Live Events to Recorded Events) for even more people
to view.<br>
<br>
Kate<br>
<p>
</p>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=116c72aa-8d4d-4a3e-9668-ecc89e064b55" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=116c72aa-8d4d-4a3e-9668-ecc89e064b55C++SpeakingVisual Studio 2013http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=e45a3427-2d1e-4126-9d4b-cb68b678c7f4http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=e45a3427-2d1e-4126-9d4b-cb68b678c7f4Kate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=e45a3427-2d1e-4126-9d4b-cb68b678c7f4http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=e45a3427-2d1e-4126-9d4b-cb68b678c7f4
I've been busy this fall with the release
of Visual Studio 2013. One of the things I've been working on is live now: a new
Pluralsight course. I focused on new things that matter to C++ developers, whether
that's compiler support for language changes (hello, variadic templates!) or IDE changes
that were implemented for C++ as well as "the other languages". Here's the description:

The C++ Language and the Standard Library both changed dramatically with
the release of C++ 11. Some of these features were not implemented until Visual Studio
2013, and those are presented in this course. You'll learn about variadic templates,
improvements in constructing and initializing variables, and rawnstring literals.
In addition a number of productivity boosting enhancements in debugging, editing,
and using libraries are in this version and you will learn how to take advantage of
them.

If you don't have a Pluralsight subscription already, there's a free trial available,
so please check
it out!

Kate

New Pluralsight course: What's New in Visual Studio 2013 for C++ Developershttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=e45a3427-2d1e-4126-9d4b-cb68b678c7f4http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/NewPluralsightCourseWhatsNewInVisualStudio2013ForCDevelopers.aspx
Fri, 22 Nov 2013 18:36:27 GMTI've been busy this fall with the release of Visual Studio 2013. One of the things I've been working on is live now: a <a href="http://pluralsight.com/training/Courses/TableOfContents/whats-new-visual-studio-2013-cplusplus-devs">new
Pluralsight course</a>. I focused on new things that matter to C++ developers, whether
that's compiler support for language changes (hello, variadic templates!) or IDE changes
that were implemented for C++ as well as "the other languages". Here's the description:<br>
<br>
<blockquote>The C++ Language and the Standard Library both changed dramatically with
the release of C++ 11. Some of these features were not implemented until Visual Studio
2013, and those are presented in this course. You'll learn about variadic templates,
improvements in constructing and initializing variables, and rawnstring literals.
In addition a number of productivity boosting enhancements in debugging, editing,
and using libraries are in this version and you will learn how to take advantage of
them.
<br>
</blockquote>
<br>
If you don't have a Pluralsight subscription already, there's a free trial available,
so please <a href="http://pluralsight.com/training/Courses/TableOfContents/whats-new-visual-studio-2013-cplusplus-devs">check
it out</a>!<br>
<br>
Kate<br>
<p>
</p>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=e45a3427-2d1e-4126-9d4b-cb68b678c7f4" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=e45a3427-2d1e-4126-9d4b-cb68b678c7f4C++Seen and RecommendedVisual Studio 2013http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=36c24fa3-dc87-4642-a637-4967a2adab45http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=36c24fa3-dc87-4642-a637-4967a2adab45Kate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=36c24fa3-dc87-4642-a637-4967a2adab45http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=36c24fa3-dc87-4642-a637-4967a2adab454
Are you joining us tomorrow for a one-day
introduction to C++ at Microsoft Virtual Academy? (No? There's still time to register.)
Then you might want the sample code we'll be using. We're probably going to go too
fast for you to actually follow along in your copy of Visual Studio, but you can try.
I've attached a zip of the code to this post.

Kate

Demos.zip (164.55
KB)Sample Code for MVA Dayhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=36c24fa3-dc87-4642-a637-4967a2adab45http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SampleCodeForMVADay.aspx
Mon, 18 Nov 2013 19:22:01 GMTAre you joining us tomorrow for a one-day introduction to C++ at Microsoft Virtual Academy? (No? There's still time to <a href="http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/liveevents/c-a-general-purpose-language-and-library?prid=ca_mvpkc">register.</a>)
Then you might want the sample code we'll be using. We're probably going to go too
fast for you to actually follow along in your copy of Visual Studio, but you can try.
I've attached a zip of the code to this post.<br>
<br>
Kate<br>
<p>
</p>
<a href="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/Demos.zip">Demos.zip (164.55
KB)</a><img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=36c24fa3-dc87-4642-a637-4967a2adab45" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=36c24fa3-dc87-4642-a637-4967a2adab45C++Speakinghttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=f3674b95-e814-4560-ac9c-8f68e0afe429http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=f3674b95-e814-4560-ac9c-8f68e0afe429Kate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=f3674b95-e814-4560-ac9c-8f68e0afe429http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=f3674b95-e814-4560-ac9c-8f68e0afe4292
A lot of people (a lot) have asked whether
the November 19th session (a whirlwind tour of C++ for those who don't know it) will
be recorded. I'm happy to confirm that it will be. On the Live
Events Page for Microsoft Virtual Academy you will see both future and past events.
Here you can register
for our session, and about two weeks afterward a link will appear on this page
to let you watch the recording.

Please help spread the word to people you know who want to learn C++!

Kate

Yes, the C++ Day Live Event will be recordedhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=f3674b95-e814-4560-ac9c-8f68e0afe429http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/YesTheCDayLiveEventWillBeRecorded.aspx
Wed, 13 Nov 2013 00:53:21 GMTA lot of people (a lot) have asked whether the November 19th session (a whirlwind tour of C++ for those who don't know it) will be recorded. I'm happy to confirm that it will be. On the <a href="http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/Live-Training-Events">Live
Events Page for Microsoft Virtual Academy</a> you will see both future and past events.
Here you can <a temp_href="http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/liveevents/c-a-xgeneral-purpose- language-and-library?prid=ca_mvpkc " href="http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/liveevents/c-a-xgeneral-purpose- language-and-library?prid=ca_mvpkc ">register
for our session</a>, and about two weeks afterward a link will appear on this page
to let you watch the recording.<br>
<br>
Please help spread the word to people you know who want to learn C++!<br>
<br>
Kate<br>
<p>
</p>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=f3674b95-e814-4560-ac9c-8f68e0afe429" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=f3674b95-e814-4560-ac9c-8f68e0afe429C++Seen and RecommendedSpeakinghttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=eb943bc1-dd15-4025-b8a4-74b4325b0060http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=eb943bc1-dd15-4025-b8a4-74b4325b0060Kate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=eb943bc1-dd15-4025-b8a4-74b4325b0060http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=eb943bc1-dd15-4025-b8a4-74b4325b0060

If you know someone who wants to get started using C++, and has done at least a tiny
speck of programming in other languages (so I don't have to explain what a loop is)
then you might want to point them at this free online event:

C++: A General Purpose Language and Library
Attention developers: here’s a painless way to learn the basics of C++ from the ground
up, whether you’re updating legacy code or writing brand new, efficient, and high-performance
code for new platforms like phones and want to take advantage of C++. You’ll learn
the fundamentals of the C++ language, how to use the language and its Standard Library
effectively, and how to use the Visual Studio environment for developing C++, including
debugging, exploring code, and understanding error messages. This is your starting
point for building software in C++.

James McNellis (of the Visual C++ team) and I will spend the day walking through the
fundamentals of the language and the Standard Library. We're going to have a great
time. Please send us some beginners to keep us company!

Kate

Free C++ day at Microsoft Virtual Academyhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=eb943bc1-dd15-4025-b8a4-74b4325b0060http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/FreeCDayAtMicrosoftVirtualAcademy.aspx
Wed, 06 Nov 2013 22:07:07 GMT<p>
If you know someone who wants to get started using C++, and has done at least a tiny
speck of programming in other languages (so I don't have to explain what a loop is)
then you might want to point them at this free online event:
</p>
<p>
<blockquote><b>C++: A General Purpose Language and Library</b>
<br />
Attention developers: here’s a painless way to learn the basics of C++ from the ground
up, whether you’re updating legacy code or writing brand new, efficient, and high-performance
code for new platforms like phones and want to take advantage of C++. You’ll learn
the fundamentals of the C++ language, how to use the language and its Standard Library
effectively, and how to use the Visual Studio environment for developing C++, including
debugging, exploring code, and understanding error messages. This is your starting
point for building software in C++.</blockquote>>
<p>
<a href="http://www.microsoftvirtualacademy.com/liveevents/c-a-general-purpose-language-and-library?prid=ca_mvpkc"><img border="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/mva.jpg"></a>
</p>
<p>
James McNellis (of the Visual C++ team) and I will spend the day walking through the
fundamentals of the language and the Standard Library. We're going to have a great
time. Please send us some beginners to keep us company!
</p>
<p>
Kate
</p>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=eb943bc1-dd15-4025-b8a4-74b4325b0060" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=eb943bc1-dd15-4025-b8a4-74b4325b0060C++Consulting LifeSpeakinghttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=c23f0e60-ea1f-4a35-88ac-3c38511d2067http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=c23f0e60-ea1f-4a35-88ac-3c38511d2067Kate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=c23f0e60-ea1f-4a35-88ac-3c38511d2067http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=c23f0e60-ea1f-4a35-88ac-3c38511d2067

In yesterday's session, I showed a Windows 8 store app that loads an image and then
draws an animated ripple over it.

If you would like to get the code, and more importantly the documentation that explains
the code, it's on Codeplex.
Mixing and matching a little DirectX into your Windows 8 C++/CX app is remarkably
easy, so why not take a quick look?

Kate

DirectX and Windows Store interop quickstarthttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=c23f0e60-ea1f-4a35-88ac-3c38511d2067http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/DirectXAndWindowsStoreInteropQuickstart.aspx
Wed, 02 Oct 2013 06:45:36 GMT<p>
In yesterday's session, I showed a Windows 8 store app that loads an image and then
draws an animated ripple over it.
</p>
<p>
<img border="0" width=400 src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/ripple.png">
</p>
<p>
If you would like to get the code, and more importantly the documentation that explains
the code, it's <a href="http://hilo.codeplex.com/releases/view/98021">on Codeplex</a>.
Mixing and matching a little DirectX into your Windows 8 C++/CX app is remarkably
easy, so why not take a quick look?
</p>
<p>
Kate
</p>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=c23f0e60-ea1f-4a35-88ac-3c38511d2067" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=c23f0e60-ea1f-4a35-88ac-3c38511d2067C++Client DevelopmentSeen and RecommendedVisual Studio 11Windows 8http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=73e3f835-5ec3-4c2e-bb47-234f00ab19d8http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=73e3f835-5ec3-4c2e-bb47-234f00ab19d8Kate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=73e3f835-5ec3-4c2e-bb47-234f00ab19d8http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=73e3f835-5ec3-4c2e-bb47-234f00ab19d8

If so, you might want this code. If not, I am not sure the code will help you much
:-)

Kate

Demo1.zip (1.37
MB)Demo code for today's DevReach sessionhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=73e3f835-5ec3-4c2e-bb47-234f00ab19d8http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/DemoCodeForTodaysDevReachSession.aspx
Tue, 01 Oct 2013 15:01:53 GMT<p>
Were you at <a href="http://www.devreach.com/sessions/c-in-2013---why-on-earth-">my
session today</a>?
</p>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/title.png" border="0" width="400">
<p>
If so, you might want this code. If not, I am not sure the code will help you much
:-)
</p>
<p>
Kate
</p>
<a href="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/Demo1.zip">Demo1.zip (1.37
MB)</a><img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=73e3f835-5ec3-4c2e-bb47-234f00ab19d8" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=73e3f835-5ec3-4c2e-bb47-234f00ab19d8C++Client DevelopmentSpeakinghttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=43bf7752-d0fd-4597-9456-ac9f18926be5http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=43bf7752-d0fd-4597-9456-ac9f18926be5Kate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=43bf7752-d0fd-4597-9456-ac9f18926be5http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=43bf7752-d0fd-4597-9456-ac9f18926be5
The week of April 8th, I'll be in Bristol,
UK, attending ACCU. I'm looking forward to it tremendously
- there is a great lineup of sessions and I only wish I could have spared the time
to stay on for the C++ committee meetings that will follow it. I am, however, making
the most of my time in that delightful city. Having enjoyed Guy
Smith-Ferrier's presentations in several different locations, including my own East
Of Toronto .NET User Group, I can now turn the tables and present at his.

Of course I want to do a C++ talk. But it's not a C++ group. So to be fair, I've decided
to do two talks:

First, Use All of Visual Studio to Become a Better Developer

Most developers know how to use Visual Studio to do the basics of being a developer.
You can create a solution, add projects to it, edit code, and run it. Easy, right?
In this session, I want to show you how to be a better developer by using parts of
Visual Studio you might not know about. Save hours of debugging time, move around
your code more smoothly and don't lose your place, see what you want to see and find
what you need to find. Demos will be in C# with Visual Studio 2012.

Second, C++ in 2013 – Why on earth?

There are so many languages a developer could use today. Yet some developers still
use C++. Some developers are learning C++ when they already know C# and other younger
languages. This session will show you why that is happening, and why you might want
to learn the new C++ yourself. It's nothing like the C++ you remember, and it can
be a very useful language for you to know.

Speaking in Bristol April 10thhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=43bf7752-d0fd-4597-9456-ac9f18926be5http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SpeakingInBristolApril10th.aspx
Thu, 28 Mar 2013 16:55:53 GMTThe week of April 8th, I'll be in Bristol, UK, attending <a href="http://accu.org/">ACCU</a>.
I'm looking forward to it tremendously - there is a great lineup of sessions and I
only wish I could have spared the time to stay on for the C++ committee meetings that
will follow it. I am, however, making the most of my time in that delightful city.
Having enjoyed<a href="http://www.guysmithferrier.com/"> Guy Smith-Ferrier</a>'s presentations
in several different locations, including my own <a href="http://easttorontoug.com/">East
Of Toronto .NET User Group</a>, I can now turn the tables and present at his.<br>
<br>
Of course I want to do a C++ talk. But it's not a C++ group. So to be fair, I've decided
to do two talks:<br>
<br>
<blockquote>First, <b>Use All of Visual Studio to Become a Better Developer</b>
<br>
<br>
Most developers know how to use Visual Studio to do the basics of being a developer.
You can create a solution, add projects to it, edit code, and run it. Easy, right?
In this session, I want to show you how to be a better developer by using parts of
Visual Studio you might not know about. Save hours of debugging time, move around
your code more smoothly and don't lose your place, see what you want to see and find
what you need to find. Demos will be in C# with Visual Studio 2012.<br>
<br>
Second, <b>C++ in 2013 – Why on earth?</b>
<br>
<br>
There are so many languages a developer could use today. Yet some developers still
use C++. Some developers are learning C++ when they already know C# and other younger
languages. This session will show you why that is happening, and why you might want
to learn the new C++ yourself. It's nothing like the C++ you remember, and it can
be a very useful language for you to know.<br>
</blockquote><a href="http://www.dotnetdevnet.com/Meetings/tabid/54/EntryID/77/Default.aspx"><img src="http://www.dotnetdevnet.com/Portals/0/Logo2a.jpg"></a> Please
do <a href="http://www.dotnetdevnet.com/Meetings/tabid/54/EntryID/77/Default.aspx">register</a> for
these, and I hope to see you there!<br>
<br>
Kate<br>
<p>
</p>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=43bf7752-d0fd-4597-9456-ac9f18926be5" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=43bf7752-d0fd-4597-9456-ac9f18926be5C++Seen and RecommendedSpeakingTravelVisual Studio 11http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=fa8ca79b-c8ad-4132-b302-8899e8db6408http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=fa8ca79b-c8ad-4132-b302-8899e8db6408Kate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=fa8ca79b-c8ad-4132-b302-8899e8db6408http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=fa8ca79b-c8ad-4132-b302-8899e8db6408

Over the last few weeks, I've been accumulating links to appearances of mine, and
it seems like a good idea to share these.

OReilly webcast: This is
a reasonably horrible recording (sound quality and video size) of a webcast I did
back in August. It shows why C++ AMP is so cool and why you might care about it. I
recorded it to promote the book but
I'm not very happy with how it turned out. You'll probably do better with the recording
of my Tech Ed
talk.

It’s not just like, oh, I saved five seconds. I can go
home five seconds earlier today. It’s that you’re less likely to forget what you were
doing because you don’t have to put so much time into the mechanics and you just stay
in flow. And to me, that’s a ramping up of two or three times the amount of code I
can produce when I use everything the tool has to offer.

Dot Net Rocks panel
at DevIntersection: Here Scott Allen, Michele Leroux Bustamante, Woody Pewitt,
and I discuss whatever we feel like, with occasional leading questions from Carl and
Richard, and some Canadian whisky too.

Even though I haven't been blogging much, I have been doing a lot, and I hope these
links will help you to discover some of it.

Kate

Some recently released recordingshttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=fa8ca79b-c8ad-4132-b302-8899e8db6408http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SomeRecentlyReleasedRecordings.aspx
Fri, 04 Jan 2013 22:58:45 GMT<p>
Over the last few weeks, I've been accumulating links to appearances of mine, and
it seems like a good idea to share these.
</p>
<ul>
<li>
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3k1-P-lGa84">OReilly webcast</a>: This is
a reasonably horrible recording (sound quality and video size) of a webcast I did
back in August. It shows why C++ AMP is so cool and why you might care about it. I
recorded it to promote <a href="http://www.gregcons.com/cppamp/">the book </a>but
I'm not very happy with how it turned out. You'll probably do better with the recording
of <a href="http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/TechEd/Europe/2012/DEV334">my Tech Ed
talk</a>.</li>
<li>
<a href="http://blog.pluralsight.com/2012/12/11/meet-the-author-kate-gregory-on-introduction-to-visual-studio-2012-part-1/">Pluralsight
interview</a>: This is specifically about my <a href="http://pluralsight.com/training/courses/TableOfContents?courseName=vs2012-intro-part1&amp;utm_source=pluralsight&amp;utm_medium=blog&amp;utm_content=meet-the-author&amp;utm_campaign=content-marketing">Using
Visual Studio 2012</a> course. You can download the audio or read the transcript as
you prefer.&nbsp; My favourite quote from the conversation:</li>
</ul>
<blockquote><blockquote><i>It’s not just like, oh, I saved five seconds. I can go
home five seconds earlier today. It’s that you’re less likely to forget what you were
doing because you don’t have to put so much time into the mechanics and you just stay
in flow. And to me, that’s a ramping up of two or three times the amount of code I
can produce when I use everything the tool has to offer.</i></blockquote></blockquote>
<ul>
<li>
<a href="http://www.dotnetrocks.com/default.aspx?showNum=833">Dot Net Rocks panel
at DevIntersection</a>: Here Scott Allen, Michele Leroux Bustamante, Woody Pewitt,
and I discuss whatever we feel like, with occasional leading questions from Carl and
Richard, and some Canadian whisky too.</li>
</ul>
<p>
Even though I haven't been blogging much, I have been doing a lot, and I hope these
links will help you to discover some of it.
</p>
<p>
Kate<br>
</p>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=fa8ca79b-c8ad-4132-b302-8899e8db6408" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=fa8ca79b-c8ad-4132-b302-8899e8db6408C++Canadian ColourClient DevelopmentConcurrencyConsulting LifeSeen and RecommendedSpeakingVisual Studio 11Windows 8http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=c6e7689e-bcd6-4ea4-9ed8-c7b94ceea5f0http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=c6e7689e-bcd6-4ea4-9ed8-c7b94ceea5f0Kate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=c6e7689e-bcd6-4ea4-9ed8-c7b94ceea5f0http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=c6e7689e-bcd6-4ea4-9ed8-c7b94ceea5f0

While I was in Nashville as part of the Dot Net Rocks Roadtrip, we recorded an episode
of The Tablet Show. The recording
is online now and I'll have to give it a listen myself to remember what we talked
about - Hilo, for sure, and C++
AMP, and just generally why C++ can be a great choice for tablet development.

Kate

Nashville Episode of The Tablet Show is live nowhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=c6e7689e-bcd6-4ea4-9ed8-c7b94ceea5f0http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/NashvilleEpisodeOfTheTabletShowIsLiveNow.aspx
Tue, 20 Nov 2012 18:30:44 GMT<p>
While I was in Nashville as part of the Dot Net Rocks Roadtrip, we recorded an episode
of The Tablet Show. The <a href="http://www.thetabletshow.com/default.aspx?ShowNum=59">recording
is online </a>now and I'll have to give it a listen myself to remember what we talked
about - <a href="http://hilo.codeplex.com/">Hilo</a>, for sure, and<a href="http://www.gregcons.com/cppamp/"> C++
AMP</a>, and just generally why C++ can be a great choice for tablet development.
</p>
<p>
Kate<br>
</p>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=c6e7689e-bcd6-4ea4-9ed8-c7b94ceea5f0" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=c6e7689e-bcd6-4ea4-9ed8-c7b94ceea5f0C++Client DevelopmentConcurrencyConsulting LifeSeen and RecommendedSpeakinghttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=9e3fa0d6-44c9-4215-a18c-63beb4fcc0d8http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=9e3fa0d6-44c9-4215-a18c-63beb4fcc0d8Kate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=9e3fa0d6-44c9-4215-a18c-63beb4fcc0d8http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=9e3fa0d6-44c9-4215-a18c-63beb4fcc0d8

Don McCrady, who with Jim Radigan did an
inspiring talk on performance at Build this year, has blogged
about a proof-of-concept project that adds C++ AMP to CLANG and LLVM using OpenCL
underneath instead of using DirectX the way Visual Studio does. This is super cool!
As Don says:

When Microsoft announced
C++ AMP back in June 2011, we told you that we would release the C++
AMP specification under the Microsoft Community
Promise – essentially opening up the specification to allow any C++ compiler implementer
to add C++ AMP to their compiler. Shevlin Park serves as an example of the platform
portability potential intended by the Community Promise.

Do read Don's post and follow the links to learn more about Shevlin Park. The praise
for C++ AMP as a programming model, and the likelihood that multiple compilers will
support it, should make you feel all warm and fuzzy about learning it. You might even
want to use my book to do so :-)

Kate

C++ AMP in another compiler - not just a theory nowhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=9e3fa0d6-44c9-4215-a18c-63beb4fcc0d8http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CAMPInAnotherCompilerNotJustATheoryNow.aspx
Fri, 16 Nov 2012 18:19:40 GMT<p>
Don McCrady, who with Jim Radigan did <a href="http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2012/3-013">an
inspiring talk on performance</a> at Build this year, has <a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/b/nativeconcurrency/archive/2012/11/16/introducing-shevlin-park-a-proof-of-concept-c-amp-implementation-on-opencl.aspx">blogged
about</a> a proof-of-concept project that adds C++ AMP to CLANG and LLVM using OpenCL
underneath instead of using DirectX the way Visual Studio does. This is super cool!
As Don says:
</p>
<blockquote>
<p>
When Microsoft <a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/b/somasegar/archive/2011/06/15/targeting-heterogeneity-with-c-amp-and-ppl.aspx">announced
C++ AMP</a> back in June 2011, we told you that we would release the <a href="http://download.microsoft.com/download/4/0/E/40EA02D8-23A7-4BD2-AD3A-0BFFFB640F28/CppAMPLanguageAndProgrammingModel.pdf">C++
AMP specification</a> under the Microsoft <a href="http://www.microsoft.com/openspecifications/en/us/programs/community-promise/default.aspx">Community
Promise</a> – essentially opening up the specification to allow any C++ compiler implementer
to add C++ AMP to their compiler. Shevlin Park serves as an example of the platform
portability potential intended by the Community Promise.
</p>
</blockquote>
<p>
Do read Don's post and follow the links to learn more about Shevlin Park. The praise
for C++ AMP as a programming model, and the likelihood that multiple compilers will
support it, should make you feel all warm and fuzzy about learning it. You might even
want to use <a href="http://www.gregcons.com/cppamp/">my book</a> to do so :-)
</p>
<p>
Kate<br>
</p>
<p>
<br>
</p>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=9e3fa0d6-44c9-4215-a18c-63beb4fcc0d8" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=9e3fa0d6-44c9-4215-a18c-63beb4fcc0d8C++Client DevelopmentConcurrencySeen and RecommendedVisual Studio 11http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=4c756317-c52b-4c33-89da-63d4ea1069f2http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=4c756317-c52b-4c33-89da-63d4ea1069f2Kate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=4c756317-c52b-4c33-89da-63d4ea1069f2http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=4c756317-c52b-4c33-89da-63d4ea1069f2

Day 4 was the first time I started to experience what some others had been complaining
about with not being able to get into the room for a popular talk. I guess I'll just
have to watch the recording.

I remembered to take some pictures of the signage that directed us around to help
cope with being in two different buildings plus the tents:

And the map on the ground outside the building:

There were also people holding giant arrows to point attendees towards lunch or
shuttles or whatever. It would have been extra-ordinarily difficult to get lost.

Finally I had to accept it was ending. They were even tearing the tent down already:

I used the airport WiFi to download sessions to watch on the way home. Good week,
Microsoft!

KateScenes from Build 2012 - Day 4http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=4c756317-c52b-4c33-89da-63d4ea1069f2http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/ScenesFromBuild2012Day4.aspx
Sat, 03 Nov 2012 17:11:03 GMT<p>
Day 4 was the first time I started to experience what some others had been complaining
about with not being able to get into the room for a popular talk. I guess I'll just
have to watch the recording.
</p>
<p>
I remembered to take some pictures of the signage that directed us around to help
cope with being in two different buildings plus the tents:
</p>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/directionsign.jpg" border="0">
<br>
<br>
And the map on the ground outside the building:<br>
<br>
<br>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/youarehere.jpg" border="0">
<br>
<a href="http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2012/2-005">
<br>
</a>There were also people holding giant arrows to point attendees towards lunch or
shuttles or whatever. It would have been extra-ordinarily difficult to get lost.
<br>
<br>
<a href="http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2012/2-005">Herb's session Friday</a> was
everything it had promised to be. I just love the idea of <a href="http://isocpp.org/">http://isocpp.org/</a> and
I intend to make good use of it when people ask me "getting started" questions.
<br>
<br>
Finally I had to accept it was ending. They were even tearing the tent down already:<br>
<br>
<br>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/tentdown.jpg" border="0">
<br>
<br>
I used the airport WiFi to download sessions to watch on the way home. Good week,
Microsoft!<br>
<br>
Kate<br>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=4c756317-c52b-4c33-89da-63d4ea1069f2" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=4c756317-c52b-4c33-89da-63d4ea1069f2C++Client DevelopmentConsulting LifeTravelhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=76dcfdcd-0b74-4ec6-8cf9-0586a26f545fhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=76dcfdcd-0b74-4ec6-8cf9-0586a26f545fKate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=76dcfdcd-0b74-4ec6-8cf9-0586a26f545fhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=76dcfdcd-0b74-4ec6-8cf9-0586a26f545f

One of the stickers for the badge this year was to attend an 8:30 session. I achieved
that by going to Alive
with activity: Tiles, notifications, and background tasks which, to be honest,
I chose as much to see what Kraig Brockschmidt is doing lately as to learn about tiles
and toast. But I'm glad I went, because it was a very good talk.

I've come to Redmond so many times, but I never particularly noticed the colours changing.
This week they've been spectacular. I had some meetings in other buildings so I was
able to get out of the giant lines at least long enough to take pictures of the giant
lines :-)

And yes, it rained, but they were ready for that:

I really like the vibe that came from being on campus. Speakers tended to get up from
their desks, jump on a shuttle or walk over, pull on the shirt and talk to us. I really
got the sense we were being welcomed into their home.

KateScenes from Build 2012 - Day 3http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=76dcfdcd-0b74-4ec6-8cf9-0586a26f545fhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/ScenesFromBuild2012Day3.aspx
Fri, 02 Nov 2012 17:00:10 GMT<p>
One of the stickers for the badge this year was to attend an 8:30 session. I achieved
that by going to <a href="http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2012/3-101">Alive
with activity: Tiles, notifications, and background tasks</a> which, to be honest,
I chose as much to see what Kraig Brockschmidt is doing lately as to learn about tiles
and toast. But I'm glad I went, because it was a very good talk.
</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/fallcolours.jpg" border="0">
</p>
<p>
I've come to Redmond so many times, but I never particularly noticed the colours changing.
This week they've been spectacular. I had some meetings in other buildings so I was
able to get out of the giant lines at least long enough to take pictures of the giant
lines :-)
</p>
<p>
<br>
</p>
<p>
</p>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/lunchwalk.jpg" border="0">
<br>
<br>
And yes, it rained, but they were ready for that:<br>
<br>
<br>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/umbrellas.jpg" border="0">
<br>
<br>
I really like the vibe that came from being on campus. Speakers tended to get up from
their desks, jump on a shuttle or walk over, pull on the shirt and talk to us. I really
got the sense we were being welcomed into their home.
<br>
<br>
I also went to <a href="http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2012/3-001">Tips for
building a Windows Store app using XAML and C++: The Hilo project</a> - how could
I not, since I was on the project. Excellent summary of some hard-learned lessons
and one you should totally download and watch.
<br>
<br>
Kate<br>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=76dcfdcd-0b74-4ec6-8cf9-0586a26f545f" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=76dcfdcd-0b74-4ec6-8cf9-0586a26f545fC++Client DevelopmentConsulting LifeSeen and RecommendedTravelVisual Studio 11Windows 8http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=6ae0f526-a40b-4215-bfe1-9f8e5ecbb5fahttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=6ae0f526-a40b-4215-bfe1-9f8e5ecbb5faKate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=6ae0f526-a40b-4215-bfe1-9f8e5ecbb5fahttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=6ae0f526-a40b-4215-bfe1-9f8e5ecbb5fa
Build this year is less focused on announcing
things (though the Windows phone and native C++ material is brand new) and more on
drilling down into topics that we've had a year to experiment with and want some deep
study on. Most of the speakers are from product teams. What's fun for me is that most
of the attendees are very motivated and here to learn.

This room was standing room only. It's possible all the C++ talks were, I don't always
sit at the back where I can see whether people are standing back there or not. And
you may not be able to tell from the picture but there were plenty of young developers
there too.

There was also a nice session
on Project Austin which is a lovely reference app showing how to use DirectX in
a Windows Store app. You can get the code from
Codeplex and take a look at it yourself or just use it to take beautiful notes
on a tablet.

Speaking of reference apps, Hilo (which I've written about before) is now an
official sample in the SDK and on the Dev Center. There's a Hilo
session here at Build too. Within a day or two these links should have recordings
and slides for you to download.

Scenes from Build 2012 - Day 2http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=6ae0f526-a40b-4215-bfe1-9f8e5ecbb5fahttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/ScenesFromBuild2012Day2.aspx
Thu, 01 Nov 2012 00:45:47 GMTBuild this year is less focused on announcing things (though the Windows phone and native C++ material is brand new) and more on drilling down into topics that we've had a year to experiment with and want some deep study on. Most of the speakers are from product teams. What's fun for me is that most of the attendees are very motivated and here to learn.<br>
<br>
I'm also enjoying how full the rooms are for C++ sessions. Here's <a href="http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2012/3-000">Tarek's
Day 1 session</a>:<br>
<br>
<p>
</p>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/tarekroom.jpg" border="0">
<br>
<br>
BTW, that was session 3-000 demonstrating that (a) the sessions are numbered using
zero-based indexing and (b) the C++ sessions were first on the list.
<br>
<br>
And here's the <a href="http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2012/3-013">C++ performance
talk </a>from right after the keynote this morning:<br>
<br>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/perfroom.jpg" border="0">
<br>
<br>
This room was standing room only. It's possible all the C++ talks were, I don't always
sit at the back where I can see whether people are standing back there or not. And
you may not be able to tell from the picture but there were plenty of young developers
there too.<br>
<br>
There was also a nice <a href="http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2012/4-001">session
on Project Austin</a> which is a lovely reference app showing how to use DirectX in
a Windows Store app. You can get <a href="http://austin.codeplex.com/">the code from
Codeplex</a> and take a look at it yourself or just use it to take beautiful notes
on a tablet.<br>
<br>
Speaking of reference apps, Hilo (which I've written about before) is now <a href="http://code.msdn.microsoft.com/windowsapps/Hilo-C-sample-b53fd433">an
official sample </a>in the SDK and on the Dev Center. There's a <a href="http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2012/3-001">Hilo
session </a>here at Build too. Within a day or two these links should have recordings
and slides for you to download.<br>
<br>
Want to know more about C++ at Build? Here's <a href="http://herbsutter.com/2012/10/31/90-seconds-build-its-a-great-week-for-c/">less
than two minutes on just that topic</a>. If you can, please watch <a href="http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2012/2-005">Herb's
talk on Friday</a>. It promises to be exciting!<br>
<br>
Kate<br>
<br>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=6ae0f526-a40b-4215-bfe1-9f8e5ecbb5fa" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=6ae0f526-a40b-4215-bfe1-9f8e5ecbb5faC++Client DevelopmentConcurrencySeen and RecommendedVisual Studio 11Windows 8http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=78844743-3cde-4b79-ac06-8f58f73b8bc7http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=78844743-3cde-4b79-ac06-8f58f73b8bc7Kate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=78844743-3cde-4b79-ac06-8f58f73b8bc7http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=78844743-3cde-4b79-ac06-8f58f73b8bc7
I arrived in Seattle Sunday night and filled
Monday with meetings, then lined up to register for Build. I'll spare you the photos
of the giant lineup that everyone else seems to have taken, and show you these delicious
cupcakes from the welcome reception:

For me the most exciting part of the lineup was the revised session schedule I was
handed, with lots of sessions on writing Windows Phone 8 apps in native C++. I cheerfully
added them to my schedule along with all the existing sessions on C++. (The sessions
are recorded so check
them out yourself!)

And I ended up at dinner with a lot of geeks. We were unable to resist a little side
by side comparison of our phones:

It sure made me want a 920 - good thing it turns out I'm getting one :-)

KateScenes from Build 2012 - Day 1http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=78844743-3cde-4b79-ac06-8f58f73b8bc7http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/ScenesFromBuild2012Day1.aspx
Tue, 30 Oct 2012 21:47:06 GMTI arrived in Seattle Sunday night and filled Monday with meetings, then lined up to register for Build. I'll spare you the photos of the giant lineup that everyone else seems to have taken, and show you these delicious cupcakes from the welcome reception:<br>
<br>
<p>
</p>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/cupcakes.JPG" border="0">
<br>
<br>
For me the most exciting part of the lineup was the revised session schedule I was
handed, with lots of sessions on writing Windows Phone 8 apps in native C++. I cheerfully
added them to my schedule along with all the existing sessions on C++. (The sessions
are recorded so <a href="http://channel9.msdn.com/Events/Build/2012?sort=schedule&amp;direction=asc&amp;term=">check
them out yourself</a>!)<br>
<br>
And I ended up at dinner with a lot of geeks. We were unable to resist a little side
by side comparison of our phones:<br>
<br>
<br>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/phones.jpg" border="0">
<br>
<br>
It sure made me want a 920 - good thing it turns out I'm getting one :-)<br>
<br>
Kate<br>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=78844743-3cde-4b79-ac06-8f58f73b8bc7" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=78844743-3cde-4b79-ac06-8f58f73b8bc7C++Client DevelopmentTravelhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=3643d622-5660-49c2-a48c-c0224631653dhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=3643d622-5660-49c2-a48c-c0224631653dKate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=3643d622-5660-49c2-a48c-c0224631653dhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=3643d622-5660-49c2-a48c-c0224631653d

I really enjoyed my evening in Nashville. It was fun answering the question: C++ -
Why on earth? I think I even convinced a few of you.

Of course the biggest Nashville attraction for me is my friend Billy Hollis:

Look what a luxurious meeting room they have! Couches and tables and general comfort.
And yes, I got to see the inside of the RV:

Good times in Nashville with Dot Net Rockshttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=3643d622-5660-49c2-a48c-c0224631653dhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/GoodTimesInNashvilleWithDotNetRocks.aspx
Sat, 27 Oct 2012 21:31:18 GMT<p>
I really enjoyed my evening in Nashville. It was fun answering the question: C++ -
Why on earth? I think I even convinced a few of you.
</p>
<p>
Of course the biggest Nashville attraction for me is my friend Billy Hollis:
</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/nashville-billyandrichard.jpg" border="0">
</p>
<p>
Look what a luxurious meeting room they have! Couches and tables and general comfort.
And yes, I got to see the inside of the RV:
</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/nashville-rv.jpg" border="0">
</p>
<p>
If I got you interested in C++, you might like some links:
<br>
</p>
<ul>
<li>
<a href="http://www.gregcons.com/cppamp/">My C++ AMP book</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="http://pluralsight.com/training/Authors/Details/kate-gregory">My courses
at Pluralsight</a> that include some nice C++ ones<br>
</li>
</ul>
<p>
</p>
<p>
Thanks for the visit, and I hope to be back!
</p>
<p>
Kate
</p>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=3643d622-5660-49c2-a48c-c0224631653d" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=3643d622-5660-49c2-a48c-c0224631653dC++Client DevelopmentConcurrencySpeakingTravelVisual Studio 11http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=c4016ba0-278d-448f-8c95-1191de4ce0aahttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=c4016ba0-278d-448f-8c95-1191de4ce0aaKate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=c4016ba0-278d-448f-8c95-1191de4ce0aahttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=c4016ba0-278d-448f-8c95-1191de4ce0aa

Is the C++ Renaissance real? Well I'll tell you one thing: conference organizers are
way more receptive to all-day C++ sessions than they used to be :-). I'll be doing
yet another one this year. This time it's in Las Vegas Dec 9th, as part of DevIntersection.
Here's the abstract:

PRECON04: C++ in 2012: Modern, Readable, Safe, Fast (9:00 AM - 4:00 PM)
C++ is gaining momentum as a development language, so whether you've never used C++
or stopped using it a decade ago, it may be time to brush up on your skills. With
a new standard release providing new keywords and capabilities, C++ is a featured
language for many of the new Microsoft technologies and enables some amazing speed-ups
of your application using libraries like PPL and C++ AMP. What's more, Visual Studio
offers tools to native developers that have only been available for managed developers
in earlier versions. This all-day workshop will show you what all the fuss is about
and give you the skills you need to understand the advantages of C++ today and how
to start applying those benefits to your application.

If you're an experienced and current C++ developer, you may not need to come to this
session. But if you were thinking you needed a refresher, here's a great way to get
one, and at the same time look at some of the cool new stuff that is available to
you once you know C++. If you've never written a line of C++ code in your life, but
you're solid in C# or Java so you know the basic syntax (if, while, etc) you should
be able to follow this session, though it won't teach you all the fiddly bits of C++
syntax and make you a C++ developer from scratch. It should, however, give you the
inspiration you might need to go and learn all that fiddly syntax, and understand
why we have it.

The workshop costs an extra $399 for conference attendees and will cover a lot of
ground: new language and library goodies in C++11, ALM Support for C++ developers
in Visual Studio 2012, a quick taste of some PPL and C++ AMP power, and plenty of
advice on best practices and modern C++ style.

I hope to see you there! Don't forget, if you register for
the conference before Nov 1st, you'll get a tablet!

Kate

All Day C++ Workshop at DevIntersectionhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=c4016ba0-278d-448f-8c95-1191de4ce0aahttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/AllDayCWorkshopAtDevIntersection.aspx
Sun, 21 Oct 2012 00:01:13 GMT<p>
Is the C++ Renaissance real? Well I'll tell you one thing: conference organizers are
way more receptive to all-day C++ sessions than they used to be :-). I'll be doing
yet another one this year. This time it's in Las Vegas Dec 9th, as part of <a href="http://www.devintersection.com">DevIntersection</a>.
Here's the abstract:
</p>
<blockquote>
<p>
PRECON04: C++ in 2012: Modern, Readable, Safe, Fast (9:00 AM - 4:00 PM)<br>
C++ is gaining momentum as a development language, so whether you've never used C++
or stopped using it a decade ago, it may be time to brush up on your skills. With
a new standard release providing new keywords and capabilities, C++ is a featured
language for many of the new Microsoft technologies and enables some amazing speed-ups
of your application using libraries like PPL and C++ AMP. What's more, Visual Studio
offers tools to native developers that have only been available for managed developers
in earlier versions. This all-day workshop will show you what all the fuss is about
and give you the skills you need to understand the advantages of C++ today and how
to start applying those benefits to your application.
<br>
<br>
If you're an experienced and current C++ developer, you may not need to come to this
session. But if you were thinking you needed a refresher, here's a great way to get
one, and at the same time look at some of the cool new stuff that is available to
you once you know C++. If you've never written a line of C++ code in your life, but
you're solid in C# or Java so you know the basic syntax (if, while, etc) you should
be able to follow this session, though it won't teach you all the fiddly bits of C++
syntax and make you a C++ developer from scratch. It should, however, give you the
inspiration you might need to go and learn all that fiddly syntax, and understand
why we have it.
</p>
</blockquote>
<p>
The workshop costs an extra $399 for conference attendees and will cover a lot of
ground: new language and library goodies in C++11, ALM Support for C++ developers
in Visual Studio 2012, a quick taste of some PPL and C++ AMP power, and plenty of
advice on best practices and modern C++ style.<br>
<br>
I hope to see you there! Don't forget, if you <a href="https://www.devintersection.com/shows/register.aspx">register </a>for
the conference before Nov 1st, you'll get a tablet!<br>
<br>
Kate<br>
</p>
<p>
</p>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=c4016ba0-278d-448f-8c95-1191de4ce0aa" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=c4016ba0-278d-448f-8c95-1191de4ce0aaC++ConcurrencySpeakinghttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=7d768ea2-e64f-4713-975a-147c52135a6fhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=7d768ea2-e64f-4713-975a-147c52135a6fKate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=7d768ea2-e64f-4713-975a-147c52135a6fhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=7d768ea2-e64f-4713-975a-147c52135a6f

This three-day conference marks the final stop on the USA leg of the .NET Rocks! Visual
Studio 2012 Launch Road Trip! DevIntersection is a developer conference PLUS the recording
venue for the last stop of the three-month road trip hosted by Richard Campbell and
Carl Franklin. We're bringing together some of the best speakers (and our personal
friends) for a conference that is relaxed and educational, plus forward looking as
you and your company start to figure out what to do with Windows 8 and Visual Studio
for the next few years. Our attendees tend to be .NET software developers plus other
members of their teams. DevIntersection is an educational onsite conference for anyone
who is attached to a .NET development programming project who is looking to use Visual
Studio to develop apps for desktop, web and mobile platfoms.

I have two breakout sessions - one on C++ AMP and one on developing for the Windows
Store in C++. No .NET in either one of them; this is a conference for expanding your
horizons, after all.

For $1595 you get three full days of sessions. And if you register in October (hurry!)
you will also get a new tablet. Build sold out in hours, so this is your chance to
get access to deep and current information for developers across the Microsoft ecosystem.
See you there!

Kate

New Conference - DevIntersectionhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=7d768ea2-e64f-4713-975a-147c52135a6fhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/NewConferenceDevIntersection.aspx
Wed, 17 Oct 2012 17:52:31 GMT<p>
Here's an amazing grand finale to the <a href="http://www.dotnetrocks.com/roadtrip.aspx">Dot
Net Rocks Roadtrip</a> this year -a full on <a href="http://www.devintersection.com/">developer
conference</a> in Las Vegas, Dec 9th - 12th.
</p>
<p>
<a href="http://www.devintersection.com/"><img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/DevInt_728x90.jpg" border="0"></a>
</p>
<p>
I love this answer to "<a href="https://www.devintersection.com/faq.aspx">What is
DevIntersection?</a>"
</p>
<blockquote>
<p>
This three-day conference marks the final stop on the USA leg of the .NET Rocks! Visual
Studio 2012 Launch Road Trip! DevIntersection is a developer conference PLUS the recording
venue for the last stop of the three-month road trip hosted by Richard Campbell and
Carl Franklin. We're bringing together some of the best speakers (and our personal
friends) for a conference that is relaxed and educational, plus forward looking as
you and your company start to figure out what to do with Windows 8 and Visual Studio
for the next few years. Our attendees tend to be .NET software developers plus other
members of their teams. DevIntersection is an educational onsite conference for anyone
who is attached to a .NET development programming project who is looking to use Visual
Studio to develop apps for desktop, web and mobile platfoms.
</p>
</blockquote>
<p>
I have two breakout sessions - one on C++ AMP and one on developing for the Windows
Store in C++. No .NET in either one of them; this is a conference for expanding your
horizons, after all.<br>
</p>
<p>
For $1595 you get three full days of sessions. And if you register in October (hurry!)
you will also get a new tablet. Build sold out in hours, so this is your chance to
get access to deep and current information for developers across the Microsoft ecosystem.
See you there!
</p>
<p>
Kate<br>
</p>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=7d768ea2-e64f-4713-975a-147c52135a6f" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=7d768ea2-e64f-4713-975a-147c52135a6fC++Client DevelopmentConcurrencyConsulting LifeRDSpeakingTravelVisual Studio 11Windows 8http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=3bbe13f1-90bf-4e6b-a791-bb2819b76dc9http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=3bbe13f1-90bf-4e6b-a791-bb2819b76dc9Kate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=3bbe13f1-90bf-4e6b-a791-bb2819b76dc9http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=3bbe13f1-90bf-4e6b-a791-bb2819b76dc9

Hilo is a reference project written in C++/CX for Windows 8 by the Patterns and Practices
team. I was delighted to be part of this project and think it turned out very well.
I use the Hilo codebase to remind myself how to do certain things when writing a Windows
Store app in C++ (something I'm in the middle of doing for another project.) The accompanying
document is rich in best practices for Windows 8 development, async work, modern C++,
unit testing, and more. Now the latest version has
been released, updated for Windows 8 RTM.

Hilo itself is a photo viewer. Before you roll your eyes, bear with me. I actually
think it's better than the one that ships with Windows 8. It shows you some of your
pictures as a sort of overview:

Click on one to interact with it. You can right-click to bring up both the app bar
at the bottom and a nice strip-navigation control at the top:

If you want to see something cool, use Cartoon Effect. This leverages C++ AMP to cartoonize
the picture. I've shopped this image a little to reduce the width (pulled the appbar
in from the edges) but the cartoon work was done by Hilo - and super quickly.

If you have any thoughts of writing Windows Store apps, and C++ is a possibility for
you, get over to Codeplex, download the Hilo
code and the .chm file, and get reading!

Kate

Hilo has been updated for Windows 8 RTMhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=3bbe13f1-90bf-4e6b-a791-bb2819b76dc9http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/HiloHasBeenUpdatedForWindows8RTM.aspx
Mon, 15 Oct 2012 17:17:12 GMT<p>
Hilo is a reference project written in C++/CX for Windows 8 by the Patterns and Practices
team. I was delighted to be part of this project and think it turned out very well.
I use the Hilo codebase to remind myself how to do certain things when writing a Windows
Store app in C++ (something I'm in the middle of doing for another project.) The accompanying
document is rich in best practices for Windows 8 development, async work, modern C++,
unit testing, and more. Now <a href="http://hilo.codeplex.com">the latest version</a> has
been released, updated for Windows 8 RTM.
</p>
<p>
Hilo itself is a photo viewer. Before you roll your eyes, bear with me. I actually
think it's better than the one that ships with Windows 8. It shows you some of your
pictures as a sort of overview:
</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/hilo shot.jpg" border="0" width="600">
</p>
<p>
Click on one to interact with it. You can right-click to bring up both the app bar
at the bottom and a nice strip-navigation control at the top:
</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/hilo2.jpg" border="0">
</p>
<p>
If you want to see something cool, use Cartoon Effect. This leverages C++ AMP to cartoonize
the picture. I've shopped this image a little to reduce the width (pulled the appbar
in from the edges) but the cartoon work was done by Hilo - and super quickly.
</p>
<p>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/hilo3.jpg" border="0">
</p>
<p>
If you have any thoughts of writing Windows Store apps, and C++ is a possibility for
you, get over to <a href="http://hilo.codeplex.com">Codeplex</a>, download the Hilo
code and the .chm file, and get reading!
</p>
<p>
Kate
</p>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=3bbe13f1-90bf-4e6b-a791-bb2819b76dc9" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=3bbe13f1-90bf-4e6b-a791-bb2819b76dc9C++Client DevelopmentConcurrencyConsulting LifeSeen and RecommendedVisual Studio 11Windows 8http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=88ebe77c-7b05-45f1-8960-b27fde683521http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=88ebe77c-7b05-45f1-8960-b27fde683521Kate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=88ebe77c-7b05-45f1-8960-b27fde683521http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=88ebe77c-7b05-45f1-8960-b27fde6835211
I’ve been writing a book, though I swore
I wouldn’t write any more books, and it’s finally done! You can buy a Kindle version
from Amazon or an e-book directly from O’Reilly today. The paper copies will be ready
in about a week and you can order them from O’Reilly or Amazon. The book is published
by Microsoft Press, but O’Reilly handles the actual production of the books.

I’ve got a page dedicated to the book with
links for you to buy it, get the code, submit errata, and whatever else you might
want. (If you think something’s missing, comment here and I’ll try to take care of
it.)

KateThe C++ AMP book is printed!http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=88ebe77c-7b05-45f1-8960-b27fde683521http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/TheCAMPBookIsPrinted.aspx
Fri, 28 Sep 2012 18:50:54 GMTI’ve been writing a book, though I swore I wouldn’t write any more books, and it’s finally done! You can buy a Kindle version from Amazon or an e-book directly from O’Reilly today. The paper copies will be ready in about a week and you can order them from O’Reilly or Amazon. The book is published by Microsoft Press, but O’Reilly handles the actual production of the books.<p>
</p>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/cover.jpg" border="0">
<br>
&nbsp;I’ve got <a href="http://www.gregcons.com/cppamp/">a page dedicated to the book</a> with
links for you to buy it, get the code, submit errata, and whatever else you might
want. (If you think something’s missing, comment here and I’ll try to take care of
it.)<br>
<br>
Kate<br>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=88ebe77c-7b05-45f1-8960-b27fde683521" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=88ebe77c-7b05-45f1-8960-b27fde683521C++Client DevelopmentConcurrencyConsulting LifeSeen and RecommendedVisual Studio 11http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=82dd86ec-860d-4dd4-bcb3-4ba9314d1398http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=82dd86ec-860d-4dd4-bcb3-4ba9314d1398Kate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=82dd86ec-860d-4dd4-bcb3-4ba9314d1398http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=82dd86ec-860d-4dd4-bcb3-4ba9314d1398

I love writing courses for Pluralsight.
I have quite a few and am working on more
right now. They like to interview their authors about each course. Here's
one about my latest for them. If you’ve done the whole course you won’t learn
anything new from the interview, but if you’re curious about writing what we’re now
calling Windows Store applications for Windows 8 using C++ and Visual Studio, perhaps
this interview will help you decide whether it’s something you want to learn. There’s
a transcript as well as an audio link.

On Tuesday, July 10th, I'll do a free Tech Breakfast on the new features of the C++
language in the standard once called C++0x and now called C++ 11. I'll demonstrate
how a lot of these features are already in Visual Studio 2010 and some in Visual Studio
2012. It runs from 9am to 11 am in Sydney, and you do need to pre-register.

Then all day Wednesday, July 11th, I'll do a course on modern C++ development with
Visual Studio 2010 and 2012. I'll cover language changes, tool changes, drill into
my favourite feature - lambdas - and show some of the cool things they enable, and
give you some advice on best practices for writing C++ today. This course costs $300
Australian and will be held in Sydney just once.

I realize many people who read my blog don't need to come and learn this material.
But perhaps you know someone who does? There is room in both sessions for more people
- and I want to reach as many people as possible, so please spread the word! Registration
links for both session are on the
SSW page announcing them.

Kate

Do you know an Australian who needs a C++ refresher?http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=18a0e307-6878-46f0-9d98-602183e2b97fhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/DoYouKnowAnAustralianWhoNeedsACRefresher.aspx
Mon, 02 Jul 2012 14:47:22 GMTI'm headed to Australia tomorrow (I won't get there till Thursday though) and I'm going to be doing some C++ talks while I'm there. Both are aimed at folks who haven't been keeping up to date on all that's been happening in the world of C++ over the last few years.<br>
<br>
On Tuesday, July 10th, I'll do a free Tech Breakfast on the new features of the C++
language in the standard once called C++0x and now called C++ 11. I'll demonstrate
how a lot of these features are already in Visual Studio 2010 and some in Visual Studio
2012. It runs from 9am to 11 am in Sydney, and you do need to pre-register.
<br>
<br>
Then all day Wednesday, July 11th, I'll do a course on modern C++ development with
Visual Studio 2010 and 2012. I'll cover language changes, tool changes, drill into
my favourite feature - lambdas - and show some of the cool things they enable, and
give you some advice on best practices for writing C++ today. This course costs $300
Australian and will be held in Sydney just once.<br>
<br>
I realize many people who read my blog don't need to come and learn this material.
But perhaps you know someone who does? There is room in both sessions for more people
- and I want to reach as many people as possible, so please spread the word! Registration
links for both session are on <a href="http://www.ssw.com.au/ssw/netug/SSWUpdate/_2012_06__Kate%20Gregory%20is%20coming%20to%20Australia.htm">the
SSW page announcing them</a>.<br>
<br>
Kate<br>
<p>
</p>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=18a0e307-6878-46f0-9d98-602183e2b97f" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=18a0e307-6878-46f0-9d98-602183e2b97fC++Consulting LifeMentoringSpeakingTravelVisual Studio 11Visual Studio 2010http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=dbb7a34a-61c3-41ec-995b-ea7d3f5adf8dhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=dbb7a34a-61c3-41ec-995b-ea7d3f5adf8dKate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=dbb7a34a-61c3-41ec-995b-ea7d3f5adf8dhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=dbb7a34a-61c3-41ec-995b-ea7d3f5adf8d2
As I am soon to discover first-hand, Australia
is a very long way from North America. So when Adam Cogan makes the trip, he often
extends his stay to see more people or places. Last September when we all gathered
for //build/, Adam tacked a mini Canada tour onto his North American stay and we got
together for a quick chat near my home. Part of it was filmed and (after a long delay
to cope with the sound issues) is now available on
the SSW TV site.

We talk about C++ and why it has advantages over managed code in some cases, about
C++ AMP, and about tablets, leading to this moment:

It's just a 7 minute video, so give it a listen!

KateProphetic interviewhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=dbb7a34a-61c3-41ec-995b-ea7d3f5adf8dhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PropheticInterview.aspx
Tue, 26 Jun 2012 06:18:02 GMTAs I am soon to discover first-hand, Australia is a very long way from North America. So when Adam Cogan makes the trip, he often extends his stay to see more people or places. Last September when we all gathered for //build/, Adam tacked a mini Canada tour onto his North American stay and we got together for a quick chat near my home. Part of it was filmed and (after a long delay to cope with the sound issues) is <a href="http://tv.ssw.com/?p=1882">now
available</a> on the SSW TV site.<br>
<br>
We talk about C++ and why it has advantages over managed code in some cases, about
C++ AMP, and about tablets, leading to this moment:<br>
<br>
<p>
</p>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/adam.jpg" border="0">
<br>
<br>
It's just a 7 minute video, so give it a listen!<br>
<br>
Kate<br>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=dbb7a34a-61c3-41ec-995b-ea7d3f5adf8d" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=dbb7a34a-61c3-41ec-995b-ea7d3f5adf8dC++Canadian ColourClient DevelopmentConcurrencyConsulting LifeSpeakingVisual Studio 11Windows 8http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=8d2b53e5-a15d-41d5-a0b8-1aad628f0017http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=8d2b53e5-a15d-41d5-a0b8-1aad628f0017Kate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=8d2b53e5-a15d-41d5-a0b8-1aad628f0017http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=8d2b53e5-a15d-41d5-a0b8-1aad628f0017

I've been putting my schedule together for the talks I want to attend at Tech
Ed North America and Tech Ed Europe this
year. While I wasn't looking, a bunch more C++ content was added.

Plus some language agnostic sessions that chose to put C++ in their session descriptions,
which is a new thing these days.

Now as it happens, Tech Ed North America is sold
out, so if you're not registered yet, you have three choices: join the waiting
list, watch these sessions online, or get your boss to agree to a slightly larger
T&E budget and head to Tech Ed Europe in Amsterdam just two weeks later. There
we will have:

One way or another, please attend or watch these sessions. There's a lot of new stuff
happening!

Kate

Even more C++ content at both Tech Edshttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=8d2b53e5-a15d-41d5-a0b8-1aad628f0017http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/EvenMoreCContentAtBothTechEds.aspx
Tue, 29 May 2012 21:31:56 GMT<p>
I've been putting my schedule together for the talks I want to attend at <a href="http://northamerica.msteched.com/">Tech
Ed North America</a> and <a href="http://europe.msteched.com/">Tech Ed Europe</a> this
year. While I wasn't looking, a bunch more C++ content was added.<br>
<br>
In Orlando:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
PRC08, my all day Sunday precon: <a href="http://northamerica.msteched.com/topic/details/2012/PRC08">C++
in Visual Studio 11: Modern, Readable, Safe, Fast</a>
</li>
<li>
DEV316, Wednesday at 8:30 am: <a href="http://northamerica.msteched.com/topic/details/2012/DEV316">Application
Lifecycle Management Tools for C++ in Visual Studio 11</a> by Rong Lu<br>
</li>
<li>
DEV334, Wednesday at 5:00 pm: <a href="http://northamerica.msteched.com/topic/details/2012/DEV334">C++
Accelerated Massive Parallelism in Visual C++ 11</a> by me</li>
<li>
DEV322, Thursday at 4:30 pm: <a href="http://northamerica.msteched.com/topic/details/2012/DEV322">Building
Windows 8 Metro style Apps with Visual C++ 11</a> by Raman Sharma&nbsp;</li>
</ul>
<p>
Plus some language agnostic sessions that chose to put C++ in their session descriptions,
which is a new thing these days.
</p>
<p>
Now as it happens, Tech Ed North America is <a href="http://northamerica.msteched.com/blog/2012/05/25/TechEd-North-America-2012-is-sold-out">sold
out</a>, so if you're not registered yet, you have three choices: join the waiting
list, watch these sessions online, or get your boss to agree to a slightly larger
T&amp;E budget and head to Tech Ed Europe in Amsterdam just two weeks later. There
we will have:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
PRC08, my all day Monday precon: C++ in Visual Studio 11: Modern, Readable, Safe,
Fast</li>
<li>
DEV316, Tuesday at 4:30 pm: Application Lifecycle Management Tools for C++ in Visual
Studio 11 by Rong Lu</li>
<li>
DEV368, Wednesday at 2:45 pm: Visual C++ and the Native Renaissance by Steve Teixeira</li>
<li>
DEV322, Thursday at 8:30 am: Building Windows 8 Metro style Apps with Visual C++ 11
by Rong Lu</li>
<li>
DEV367, Thursday at 4:30: Building Windows 8 Metro Style Apps With C++ by Steve Teixeira<br>
</li>
<li>
DEV334, Friday at 1:00 pm: C++ Accelerated Massive Parallelism in Visual C++ 11 by
me<br>
</li>
</ul>
<p>
(Europe doesn't have direct links to the sessions, but they do allow links to the <a href="http://europe.msteched.com/Sessions?q=C%2B%2B">search
for C++</a>.) I'll have to miss Steve's talk because <a href="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SpeakingAtTheBelgiumCUsersGroup.aspx">Rong
and I are going to Belgium</a>, so that one I'll be watching online.&nbsp;
</p>
<p>
One way or another, please attend or watch these sessions. There's a lot of new stuff
happening!
</p>
<p>
Kate<br>
</p>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=8d2b53e5-a15d-41d5-a0b8-1aad628f0017" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=8d2b53e5-a15d-41d5-a0b8-1aad628f0017C++Client DevelopmentConcurrencySeen and RecommendedSpeakingTravelVisual Studio 11Windows 8http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=7d939d85-46ac-45dd-99df-2ede5a662d37http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=7d939d85-46ac-45dd-99df-2ede5a662d37Kate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=7d939d85-46ac-45dd-99df-2ede5a662d37http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=7d939d85-46ac-45dd-99df-2ede5a662d37
I am having a very lucky year. I've been
nominated and accepted as a judge at
the Worldwide finals of the Imagine Cup. I love being around students, and everything
I've heard about Imagine Cup tells me that the energy, excitement, and creativity
is marvelous to be part of. While I'm there, I decided to stay an extra day (July
11th) so I can offer my one-day C++ training to those who can't make it to Tech Ed
in Orlando or Amsterdam. Here's what I'll cover:

Modern C++ with the Standard Library

Application Lifecycle Management for Visual C++ 11

Leveraging Lambdas for the PPL and C++ AMP

Best practices for C++ developers today

This is not a free session, but the price is even lower than the Tech Ed precons since
I don't have travel expenses to get down there and see you all. If you live in Australia,
please register and
take advantage of this chance to come and learn what's been going on with C++ while
you weren't looking! And if you don't, I'd appreciate it if you could spread the word
to those who do.

Kate

Another opportunity for all-day C++ traininghttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=7d939d85-46ac-45dd-99df-2ede5a662d37http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/AnotherOpportunityForAlldayCTraining.aspx
Tue, 29 May 2012 01:04:29 GMTI am having a very lucky year. I've been nominated and accepted as a <a href="http://www.imaginecup.com/CompetitionsContent/JudgeBio.aspx">judge </a>at
the Worldwide finals of the Imagine Cup. I love being around students, and everything
I've heard about Imagine Cup tells me that the energy, excitement, and creativity
is marvelous to be part of. While I'm there, I decided to stay an extra day (July
11th) so I can offer my one-day C++ training to those who can't make it to Tech Ed
in Orlando or Amsterdam. Here's what I'll cover:<br>
<ul>
<li>
Modern C++ with the Standard Library
<br>
</li>
<li>
Application Lifecycle Management for Visual C++ 11</li>
<li>
Leveraging Lambdas for the PPL and C++ AMP</li>
<li>
Best practices for C++ developers today</li>
</ul>
<p>
This is not a free session, but the price is even lower than the Tech Ed precons since
I don't have travel expenses to get down there and see you all. If you live in Australia,
please <a href="http://www.ssw.com.au/ssw/events/Training/VS-Dev-11.aspx">register</a> and
take advantage of this chance to come and learn what's been going on with C++ while
you weren't looking! And if you don't, I'd appreciate it if you could spread the word
to those who do.
</p>
<p>
Kate<br>
</p>
<p>
</p>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=7d939d85-46ac-45dd-99df-2ede5a662d37" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=7d939d85-46ac-45dd-99df-2ede5a662d37C++Client DevelopmentConsulting LifeSeen and RecommendedSpeakingTravelVisual Studio 11http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=d856d0e1-baea-47d4-a4db-fd0cd1ca8479http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=d856d0e1-baea-47d4-a4db-fd0cd1ca8479Kate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=d856d0e1-baea-47d4-a4db-fd0cd1ca8479http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=d856d0e1-baea-47d4-a4db-fd0cd1ca8479
Some people really go above and beyond
for community. They have an idea, and then they make it happen. Take Marc
Gregoire, for example. Our names are similar, and we both care about community,
C++, and related topics, but we've never met. That didn't stop him from emailing me
to see if I would do a user group talk while I was nearby for Tech Ed Europe. Of course
I would! And then he arranged for Rong Lu from the C++ team to come and do one as
well. Marc has done all the work of getting the room, the travel arrangements, you
name it. All I have to do is take a short scenic train ride, and talk about a topic
I'm excited about. That part is easy. The organizing part is hard.

It's going to be a very fun evening. I'm going to talk about C++ AMP, and Rong will
cover what's new in VC++ 11. I've seen her speak before, and I know you're going to
enjoy it. Be there, Wednesday June 27th at the Microsoft offices in Brussels. (I was
kinda hoping for Tuesday, so I could make
a joke, but Wednesday will be fine.) You need to register,
so please do!

Kate

Speaking at the Belgium C++ Users Grouphttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=d856d0e1-baea-47d4-a4db-fd0cd1ca8479http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SpeakingAtTheBelgiumCUsersGroup.aspx
Mon, 28 May 2012 00:49:12 GMTSome people really go above and beyond for community. They have an idea, and then they make it happen. Take <a href="http://www.nuonsoft.com/blog/">Marc
Gregoire</a>, for example. Our names are similar, and we both care about community,
C++, and related topics, but we've never met. That didn't stop him from emailing me
to see if I would do a user group talk while I was nearby for Tech Ed Europe. Of course
I would! And then he arranged for Rong Lu from the C++ team to come and do one as
well. Marc has done all the work of getting the room, the travel arrangements, you
name it. All I have to do is take a short scenic train ride, and talk about a topic
I'm excited about. That part is easy. The organizing part is hard.<br>
<br>
It's going to be a very fun evening. I'm going to talk about C++ AMP, and Rong will
cover what's new in VC++ 11. I've seen her speak before, and I know you're going to
enjoy it. Be there, Wednesday June 27th at the Microsoft offices in Brussels. (I was
kinda hoping for Tuesday, so I could <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0064471">make
a joke</a>, but Wednesday will be fine.) You need to <a href="http://becpp.org/blog/2012/05/21/becpp-meeting-june-with-international-speakers/">register</a>,
so please do!
<br>
<br>
Kate<br>
<br>
<br>
<p>
</p>
<img width="0" height="0" src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/aggbug.ashx?id=d856d0e1-baea-47d4-a4db-fd0cd1ca8479" />http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=d856d0e1-baea-47d4-a4db-fd0cd1ca8479C++Client DevelopmentConcurrencySpeakingTravelVisual Studio 11http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/Trackback.aspx?guid=c860fbc4-725f-4a9a-9119-a1bc1740877fhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/pingback.aspxhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=c860fbc4-725f-4a9a-9119-a1bc1740877fKate Gregoryhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/CommentView.aspx?guid=c860fbc4-725f-4a9a-9119-a1bc1740877fhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/SyndicationService.asmx/GetEntryCommentsRss?guid=c860fbc4-725f-4a9a-9119-a1bc1740877f
This report is well overdue, I know. On
April 17th I spoke at the first meeting of the Toronto C++ User Group! The room was
PACKED:

And as you can see, there's quite an age range represented. The space was provided
by bNotions. It was lovely and airy, and I was thrilled to hear their commitment to
community across a variety of technologies:

Once I got started, my challenge was to give the one hour version of this talk, and
not the six-hour one I plan to do at my
Tech Ed precons in June. Here I am in action (thanks Eran for wandering the room
with my camera throughout the talk) explaining the new ranged-based for:

The next meeting will be shared with the North Toronto .NET User Group, covering Windows
8 development in native C++. Yes, the .NET folks want to hear about this, too!
I'll see you there June 4th, right?

KateToronto C++ User Group Updatehttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=c860fbc4-725f-4a9a-9119-a1bc1740877fhttp://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/TorontoCUserGroupUpdate.aspx
Sun, 27 May 2012 00:36:18 GMTThis report is well overdue, I know. On April 17th I spoke at the first meeting of the Toronto C++ User Group! The room was PACKED:<br>
<br>
<p>
</p>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/audience.jpg" border="0">
<br>
<br>
And as you can see, there's quite an age range represented. The space was provided
by bNotions. It was lovely and airy, and I was thrilled to hear their commitment to
community across a variety of technologies:<br>
<br>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/bnotions2.jpg" border="0">
<br>
<br>
Once I got started, my challenge was to give the one hour version of this talk, and
not the six-hour one I plan to do at <a href="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/TheTechEdPreconsWillNotBeRecorded.aspx">my
Tech Ed precons</a> in June. Here I am in action (thanks Eran for wandering the room
with my camera throughout the talk) explaining the new ranged-based for:<br>
<br>
<br>
<img src="http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/content/binary/range%20for.jpg" border="0">
<br>
<br>
The next meeting will be shared with the North Toronto .NET User Group, covering <a href="http://www.meetup.com/Toronto-CPP-User-Group/events/64618032/">Windows
8 development in native C++</a>. Yes, the .NET folks want to hear about this, too!
I'll see you there June 4th, right?<br>
<br>
Kate<br>
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So much C++ news going on lately. Time
to clear my queue:

I updated my C++
Windows 8 Development course for the Consumer Preview of Windows 8. There were
a few breaking changes, so if you're working on a Windows 8 app, take a look through
it.

Then there's C++ AMP - the topic of the book I'm
spending all my time writing. They're
hiring. This is a great opportunity for the right developer.

Oh, and James McNellis spent the last however-many-months answering the question "hey,
if native WinRT has all this metadata about types, could you leverage that to implement
reflection for native code?" Which for some people was a rhetorical question or interesting
thing to muse about, but he went
and did it. Incredibly cool.

It's hard to keep up with it all! Especially when I'm on a book deadline :-)

Kate

News, links, interviews, it's all good - and it's all C++http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/PermaLink.aspx?guid=0804da62-a24a-40d3-bb8c-8d7f63773eb4http://www.gregcons.com/KateBlog/NewsLinksInterviewsItsAllGoodAndItsAllC.aspx
Fri, 11 May 2012 02:06:29 GMTSo much C++ news going on lately. Time to clear my queue:<br>
<br>
<ul>
<li>
I updated my <a href="http://www.pluralsight-training.net/microsoft/Courses/TableOfContents?courseName=win8-cpp">C++
Windows 8 Development course </a>for the Consumer Preview of Windows 8. There were
a few breaking changes, so if you're working on a Windows 8 app, take a look through
it.</li>
<li>
I'm part of a group working on a Windows 8 app in C++ and XAML called Hilo, inspired
by the Windows 7 Hilo application. You can read more about it on <a href="http://scottdensmore.typepad.com/blog/2012/04/hilo-for-windows-8-c-and-xaml.html">Scott
Densmore's blog</a>, the <a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/b/nativeconcurrency/archive/2012/05/07/check-out-hilo-for-windows-8.aspx">Parallel
Programming in Native Code blog</a>, and <a href="http://hilo.codeplex.com/">the Codeplex
site</a>. There's another <a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/b/ukmsdn/archive/2012/05/02/developing-metro-apps-using-c-cx-for-c-developers.aspx">related
blog entry</a>, too.<br>
</li>
<li>
There are Windows 8 development camps going on all over the place, but most of them
are in managed code. There's a <a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/b/vcblog/archive/2012/04/24/10297389.aspx">native
C++ one happening in Redmond on May 18th</a>, and <a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/b/vcblog/archive/2012/05/07/10301902.aspx">it's
going to be live streamed</a>.</li>
<li>
Don't forget my <a href="http://www.pluralsight-training.net/microsoft/Courses/TableOfContents?courseName=adv-cpp">Advanced
Topics in C++ course</a>. I did <a href="http://blog.pluralsight.com/2012/05/09/meet-the-author-kate-gregory-on-c-advanced-topics/">an
interview</a> about it recently.</li>
<li>
Then there's C++ AMP - the topic of <a href="http://www.gregcons.com/cppamp">the book</a> I'm
spending all my time writing. <a temp_href="http://blogs.msdn.com/b/nativeconcurrency/archive/2012/05/10/the-c-amp-dev- team-is-hiring.aspx " href="http://blogs.msdn.com/b/nativeconcurrency/archive/2012/05/10/the-c-amp-dev-%20%20team-is-hiring.aspx%20">They're
hiring</a>. This is a great opportunity for the right developer.</li>
<li>
Oh, and James McNellis spent the last however-many-months answering the question "hey,
if native WinRT has all this metadata about types, could you leverage that to implement
reflection for native code?" Which for some people was a rhetorical question or interesting
thing to muse about, but he <a href="http://seaplusplus.com/2012/04/26/cxxreflect-native-reflection-for-the-windows-runtime/">went
and did it</a>.&nbsp; Incredibly cool.</li>
</ul>
<p>
It's hard to keep up with it all! Especially when I'm on a book deadline :-)
</p>
<p>
Kate<br>
</p>
<p>
</p>
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